Keep Your Hands Off My Girl
by EscapedDiscovery
Summary: Ino has spent most of her highschool life hiding behind baggy clothes in order to keep men at bay, but then a certain famous Nara appears and sudennly comes to her rescue. Turns out he's her new classmate? Better than it sounds. M sexual themes/cursing.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Here's my hello to everyone who actually reads the author's notes: Hello! Cookies anyone?**

**Little bit about the author… This is the first story I've ever posted on fanfiction (hell it's the first story I've ever let others read****) so I ask that you're not too hard on me… I'm going to give you a fair warning that t****he characters might be a bit OOC but just think of it as them maturing? I dunno, I'm going to try to keep them as in character as I possibly can but you know, I'm not perfect :] ****Hope you enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: Naruto and all the characters in Naruto do _not_ belong to me! Pretty obvious… Naruto © MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

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CH1

Ino Yamanaka could easily be considered the epitome of both splendor and refinement. It was no secret that the young Yamanaka was beautiful: long, silk platinum hair—which she cared to tie back in the messiest way possible—sky blue eyes—that served as deep reservoirs to store her emotions—a flawless, porcelain complexion—only marred by the kanji "daughter" tattooed on the underside of her left wrist (when she married the kanji for "bride" would be tattooed underneath it, and, once she bore her first child, "mother" would follow)—and, to be blunt, a rockin' body. Her appearance did little but leave women seething with jealousy and men's eyes glazed with lust.

Men. They were so simple. So easy to figure out. Ino found that the more effort she put into her appearance, the more men tended to admire her. And that was her problem… Ino _liked_ to be admired. She _liked _to feel beautiful. She _liked_ getting compliments. She _liked_ to wear lavish dresses (or kimonos) and twist her sheet of platinum into elegant styles. She _liked_ teasing people with something they were not allowed to have… But, like everything else, these things were only liked to an extent.

The reasons for this fondness were not based on ego, but on acknowledgment. Compliments reassured her that she wasn't invisible—reassured her that people noticed her. Sure her preteen and portions of her teenage years were filled with compliments (and she would only stubbornly admit that, yes, she had been a brat during those long years), and the years sixteen and seventeen were filled with grabby hands, but throughout much of her _child_hood people tended to stay away from her (A/N: I know this isn't accurate but just go with it :P). The avoidance was most likely a case of "cheerleader syndrome" (afraid to talk to [or ask out] someone who is more attractive than you in fear of getting shot down), but, to Ino, it felt like nothing of the sort.

Ino was not, by nature, a silent proper child. However, the constant evasion by her peers, at such a young age, had left her with little but silence and an inferiority complex. This fueled her affection for attention. It was nice to be recognized, even if it was just because of a pretty face.

The interest she received was nice in small dosages (like compliments and such), but lately, the amount of attention she recieved had escalated. The previously instigated "you can look but don't touch" arrangement, between Ino and the village's men, had soon been replaced by "look all you want, touch all you want, just don't sex me up," and she did _not_ care for this new arrangement in the slightest. The "subtle" inappropriate innuendos and advances towards her were not appreciated, but they steady influx never stopped. Now, it seemed, people were more interested in what "goods" she had underneath her clothes, as opposed to what was coming out of her mouth.

Luckily, she was still a virgin, but her escapes—usually consisting of whacking the advancer over the head with something handy—began to get narrower.

If one could not deduce, most young women (Ino included) do not like to be groped in skinny hallways or in empty alleyways. It was odd that most of the men she met tended to think that the way to a pretty woman's heart was by feeling them up. Ashamed of the gaudy actions, Ino decided against telling her parents what was unfolding in her everyday life. She was quite thankful when the family moved, for her father's business, to Konoha. The move allowed for a new start… no one knew who she was, her reputation… or what she was going to look like. As an attempt at stopping the out-of-control touching, Ino forced herself to abandon the one thing that allowed her contact with the rest of the world… her appearance. Ino's personal sense of style (one of the few things she actually took pride in) had to become… dare she think it?… unfashionable. Men were less physically attracted to women who looked unappealing. Less attraction was good. At least in her case—the groping was getting out of hand, and Ino was more than willing to put the "touchy-feely" part of her life behind her.

Tonight, however, was not one of those blessed nights of uninviting clothing. No, tonight she would not be allowed to hide behind overly-large t-shirts, baggy jeans, and messy up-dos—at least not in front of her father's potential business partners.

Ino really had no idea why she was being forced to attend a dinner with her parents, but paid it little thought. It most likely had something to do with "meeting the family"… the business dinners she took part in typically did. However, the "meeting the family" meals she had previously attended, usually took place inside their own home with either her mother or herself cooking the cuisine. Why on earth were they being formal this evening?

Again she paid it little thought. Ino was more concerned with the formality aspect of the occasion. Formality meant she was going to have to wear a kimono, didn't it? And judging by the fact that her mother was rummaging through the back of her closet… yes, yes it did. Ah, whatever. One night wouldn't do much harm, right? And what were the chances that the men they were meeting were perverts?

Despite her former reassurance, Ino found herself fiddling with the hem of one of her violet kimono sleeves, as the two women approached the restaurant. It was ridiculous how much she felt like a walking Barbie doll. Her hair was sleeked into a simple, yet beautiful, oriental style and was adorned with jeweled combs and flowers to add a sense of elegance. The look seemed much too outdated for Ino's tastes, so, while her mother was busy shifting through her kimonos, Ino pulled long bangs out of the up-do to modernize the look. The effect had been just what she was hoping for—her hair was still perfect and beautiful, but she felt more like a person (as opposed to a doll). Ino's mother, on the other hand, did not appreciate her daughter's initiative. But, instead of arguing with the girl to try to force her hair back to the way it was, Ino's mother simply handed off the violet kimono in her grasp.

The females entered the restaurant and sought out their designated table. It wasn't long before a familiar voice beckoned them in the right direction.

"Ah! Here's my jewel." The smile could be heard clearly in Inoichi's voice. He was obviously proud of her beauty—whether it was Ino's or her mother's beauty the world may never know. The women made their way to the table which Inoichi, and his potential business partners, sat. Ino's mother took the open seat next to the left of her husband and Ino sat to his right. Inoichi introduced the two as they took their seats. "Sabaku–san. Allow me to introduce my wife, Ayumiko*, and our lovely daughter, Ino."

Ino bowed her head respectfully at the mention of her name. She felt both pairs of eyes stationed from the other side of the table, flicker in her direction. "Pleasure to meet you," came the curt, yet sincere, reply from the younger, red-haired Sabaku (who appeared to be the same age as herself—no… he was—was he younger than her? His companion or brother [she couldn't tell which] was her age—odd). Ino smiled at the male's obvious discomfort (probably due to the arrival of the two women) then proceeded to tune out what was being said at the dinner table. Such trivial matters, anyways. There was really no need for her to come along other than her father's bragging rights.

Ino ate delicately, and sat silently, which was expected of her. The ever-occurring "sit there and look pretty" job was extremely boring but easy enough that she was allowed to let her mind drift off into it's own little world. A world that was so rudely interrupted when the older Sabaku brought her back. "Ino-san, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the drink bar?"

Ino's light blue eyes flickered to the bar, her father (who offered a short nod—damn!), and then back to the Sabaku. She forced a light smile and rose to her feet. "I'd be honored, Sabaku-san."

The man looked pleased with himself as he too stood and placed a hand on her shoulder. The appendage began a slow descent down her spine and it only stopped when it had come to rest in the small of her back. He pressed lightly leading her towards the bar. Ino resisted the urge to shiver and instead glanced upwards at her escort. He was by no means homely: a spiked brunette, tan skin, dark bottomless eyes, and a well-toned body. Yes, he was most definitely a piece of eye candy. She briefly entertained the thought of what their kids might look like if they were married. And then she was immediately cross with herself for thinking such things.

They took two seats at the counter and ordered their drinks. She had no idea what he had ordered—something that was laced heavily with Tequila—but she much preferred her own virgin martini… she was underage after all. Ino sipped the beverage while half listening to her partner and half glancing back towards her parents. They seemed to be immersed in deep conversation with the red-haired Sabaku—but then they stood up and brushed off their clothes. Thank the heavens! Were they leaving already? Good Lord! This man, though incredibly attractive, seemed to be interested in two things—himself and Ino's breasts—and she was getting immensely tired of his mindless drabble. It really had no basis, honestly, if you were intent on talking, the least you could do was to engage the other party.

Ino glanced back towards her partner whose eye line had fallen into sync with hers. He was staring at Ino's parents who were making their way towards the pair. "Jewel," her father began in a consoling voice, "We are going out for a smoke." Her mother didn't smoke (in fact she rather hated cigarettes, it was yet another trait that the mother and daughter shared), Inoichi, on the other hand, had picked up the nasty trait from a friend.

Ino nodded in response and began to gather up her purse. She snapped it open. Her intentions were to pay for the drink and follow them, but her mother stilled her hand. "Darling, it'll only take a moment. We'll be back shortly."

Of course they would. Noted sarcasm. Ino wasn't dense; she knew what her mother meant by that comment. It was Ayumiko's polite way of saying, "You are _going to_ stay here and talk to this man until he's done. He would make a good—rich—husband. Don't screw this up."

Ino stifled her sigh of annoyance and re-placed her purse, so that it settled back into its original place on the countertop. By the time she turned back around, her parents, and the younger Sabaku, were no longer in sight.

"Hey, Ino-chan. What say we head back to my place?" There was a slight hint of a slur to his words. Not enough that he was unintelligible, or blind drunk, but there was no mistaking the funble for words. He was laced to an extent where the least he could be was buzzed.

Ino didn't respond immediately, and the Sabaku didn't seem to take her hesitation well. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was promptly cut off by the blonde, "You're drunk, Sabaku-san."

Another pause and then a small scoff. "Maybe a little," he agreed leaning in towards her with a lopsided smirk. Ino didn't indulge his advances. Instead, she sipped her drink through pursed lips. This conversation was not heading in a good general direction. The Sabaku leaned forward again, successfully crossing the line of personal boundries.

Ino pulled away in response, and tensed. She turned to look upon the advancing man. "Sabaku-san, really, this is not productive. I don't think my father would consent to your terms if you bed his only daughter."

The Sabaku exhaled sharply through his nose with another smirk. No… bad. She'd seen that expression before and she could openly say that she didn't like the look one bit. "You're worried about your father's deal? Of all things." And she didn't care much for his tone either.

"Sabaku-san, please mind your hands." He had taken to sliding one palm up her leg and rubbing erotic circles with his thumb halfway up her thigh. She tensed immediately and swallowed slightly, gently shoving his hand down her thigh and back towards his ungrateful person. Obviously, the man had never been rejected as his expression hardened when his hand was pulled away from her tantalizing figure.

"Come now, Ino-chan. What is the purpose of coming to a place like this…" he made a general sweeping motion to include the entire bar. "Dressed like that…" he looked her up and down approvingly. "With a guy like me?" She wanted to point out that it wasn't her idea, or simply tell him that she'd rather French kiss a skunk** than be here with him at the moment, but decided against the comments. From experience, she knew a mad drunk typically got physical.

"Sabaku-san," she pleaded raising her hands in attempt to create a barrier between the two.

"Tch." The scoff was barely there, but she didn't miss the noise. He grabbed onto her hands and pulled her towards him, forcefully. Ino made a protesting noise, quieter than she would have liked, and twisted away from him. His response however, was to hold onto her tighter. He pulled her back flush against his chest and mumbled into her ear, "I-no-chan." He enunciated every syllable before turning his nose to her hairline inhaling deeply.

"Sabaku-san." It was an objection, but was mistaken for a sound of pleasure.

"It's Kankuro."

"Sabaku-san, please." Another objection.

"Kankuro-kun. Say it." He demanded harshly biting down on her earlobe for emphasis. Ino screwed her eyes shut and found herself extremely aggravated by her position. His hands held both of hers in place, but that didn't stop the blonde from ceasing her struggles.

"Let me go, please, Sabaku-san." Ino was now trying to adjust her right foot for a proper angle at which she could dig the heel of her… well… heel into his shin. It had also been made acutely aware that they were in public… people were beginning to sater.

"Kankuro-kun." He corrected, yet again. This time he was playing with her pearl stud earring with his teeth.

"Let me go, please—" His tongue traced the shell of her ear. She swallowed what little pride she had left and through gritted teeth completed her sentence. "Kankuro-kun." He ignored the request and instead let his tongue trace her jaw line. Ino squirmed in disgust and without another moment's hesitation, dug her heel into his leg inhaling sharply at his grunt of pain. Both of the Sabaku's hands flew to his shin, which, in the process, released her wrists. Ino, now free, did _not_ see much purpose in staying any longer. She cast him a frightened look before rushing out of the restaurant and sprinting towards home. Or at least, what she hoped to be the direction of her home; she really couldn't tell if she was going the right way or not. What she could tell, however, was that running in heels was not ideal. She kicked off the offending shoes somewhere behind her, and began to gain speed now that she was barefoot.

Despite the foggy state her mind was in, Ino vaguely recalled hearing the word "bitch!" called after her and a clatter of glasses before another figure had sprinted out of the building and began tailing her. Oh, Lord… he was coming now, wasn't he? Ino did not have time to note, that her parents were nowhere to be found (they must have gone out the front doors) as she pushed herself to run harder down the streets of Konoha.

Unfortunately, even without the heels, the Sabaku was faster than her, and he soon had caught up with her grabbing her wrists, yet again, and slamming her into an alley wall. And there was that drunken physical anger she'd warned herself about. Whimpering pathetically, Ino turned her head away from the man before her. She swallowed as, once again, he attacked her neck—though this time with much more than a little anger. He was biting and sucking the pale flesh harshly, leaving angry red hickeys in his wake. Ino struggled making as many protesting noises as she could muster.

"Please, Sabaku-san, enough… stop. Please—just let me go."

He chuckled darkly and latched onto the spot where her jaw and neck met behind her right ear. "Uhn!" The suction was surprisingly painful and Ino was more than thankful when he finally stopped. Her anger, however, flared again when he licked the mark he had made. "Stop it!" This bastard! Who the hell did he think he was! Ino tried to knee him in the crotch but her legs were caught between his own. Instead of stopping, in compliance to her demands, he smashed his lips against hers and began working his tongue through the vice she had created. Like hell was she going to part her lips!

She didn't realize when it had happened, but both of her wrists had somehow been transferred into one of his hands and were currently raised above her head. Oh crap. She felt the violet silk of the kimono sleeves slip down her arms and bunch somewhere around her elbows and shoulders. It seemed that Kankuro did not like the fabric there, and so decided on ripping it to shreds. Then, the brunette used his free hand to loosen the sliver obi around her waist; he was rewarded with more whimpers as the elegant silver fabric fluttered to the ground, dejectedly. The lack of restraint left the outer layer of her kimono with little to do but limply slide open.

Oh shit.

The white bandages around her chest (which Ino had in place of a bra) were visible due to the slipping fabric of the silver inner layer. She felt her face flush, with embarrassment and anger, as his hand slid under the fabric to cup a bandaged breast. Ino had meant to scream, but their lips were still glued together, so the effect gave the Sabaku time to slide his tongue and roam her mouth. He grunted his pleasure and Ino, in disgust, bit down hard on the offending muscle. This was not right! He had to get the hell off of her... NOW! And as though he had heard her thoughts, or it was the fact that his tongue was now bleeding, the man pulled away suddenly. Ino resisted the urge to vomit at the blood he left in her mouth, and instead settled for spitting at her captor's feet.

Kankuro sucked his teeth and followed her lead; he too spat the blood out on the ground. Afterwards, the man turned to look at her with a leering smile. "Feisty." He smirked sliding his hand between the lower folds of the inner layer.

"Stop it—"

A cold hand began to climb and up a bare thigh leaving uncomfortable goosebumps in its wake.

"Please—"

He stopped, inches away from where legs met torso. But instead of halting indefinitely, or going further, Kankuro grabbed onto the silver fabric still clothing her. There was another sickening ripping sound as the silk tore and she was left feeling utterly exposed in front of him.

Pastel blue eyes began mist causing her vision to blur; despite this, it took angry tears spilling down her cheeks before Ino realized she was crying. The Sabaku took no notice of her pain and instead dragged a hand across her stomach…

And then her mind went blank except for thoughts of how she wished he wasn't touching her.

His hand was back on her leg… inner thigh… outer thigh… stomach… breast… collarbone… cheek… stomach… inner thigh—

"Hey! What the _fuck _do you think you're doing to her! ?"

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**AN: *Sorry, I don't know Ino's mother's name **

**** If you know what that is from, free cookies!**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: Nope. I don't own Naruto (or the characters) today either D: (****Naruto © KISHIMOTO)**

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CH2

"What the fuck do you think you're doing to her! ?" Ino's eyes snapped open and she looked around for the source of the voice. It was hard to make out anything in the shadows and darkness, but she could distinguish the faint outline of another figure. Upon instinct, Ino flinched—ashamed at her position—and tugged at the hand securing her wrists. With a light, annoyed grunt, Kankuro finally consented and dropped her hands, leaving Ino with nothing else to do but fall to the gravel feeling utterly violated and still crying. He then turned to the intruder.

Glaring at the person responsible for ruining his fun, Kankuro answered the man, curtly, "What the fuck does it look like?" The other glared back. But _his_ glare… Ino shivered. She was, however, unsure if her trembling was caused by the man or the autumn coldness that surrounded them. Either would be logical, she could feel his anger just as well as she could feel the crisp night air. The intruder's expression was murderous… lethal… and directed solely at the Sabaku. Kankuro scoffed, and turned to make his leave. He figured that the risk getting his balls chopped off was way too much to ask for… especially given that he could find a consenting whore just down the block. "Whatever asshole. I doubt she'd be that good a lay anyways." The two held the murderous gaze for another tense moment, before Ino's captor exited with indignation. Then, the stranger turned to look at the terrified girl below him. His expression softened slightly.

"Are you hurt?" he asked trying to help her to her feet.

"Don't touch me!" She shrieked flinching away from his hand. Ino supposed she should be more gracious to the person who just saved her ass (perhaps literally) but too many things were running through her head right now. She stubbornly refused to stand and instead began trying to pull the tattered kimono up to shield her exposed figure. The damned thing was useless—stupid Sabaku bastard shredded it—but she didn't care… she needed protection from the male's eyes. He was watching her… they always watched her.

Out of desperation, Ino tried to make uncomfortable eye-contact with any and everything that wasn't crouched down in front of her. So far, the ground had been the most resistant competitor, but she continued her attempts anyways. Ino shivered again (this time it was positively due to the coldness) as her hands flew to upper arms, rubbing up and down to create friction. And then there was an odd warm weight on her back.

Ino lifted her head and came face to face with her rescuer. "Are you hurt?" He repeated this time keeping his hands to himself.

Ino glanced at him—mortified. How the hell could he be so fucking calm! Did he even give a shit! ? The young Yamanaka glared at the man (it must have looked odd because she was still crying), before her expression melted into a mild form of apology. Though his tone annoyed the hell out of her, he did save her from—Ino forced her thoughts away. Something else… Anything else. And then her eyes landed on the male again. She didn't have the sense to find complaint, and instead began to survey him. He was wearing dark glasses (why someone would be wearing dark glasses in the middle of the night confused her) and a hat. Huh. Well that was certainly the time consuming observation she was looking for. He was very distinguishing… (Sarcasm never ceased to amaze her… it appeared in the most obscene of circumstances).

Nervously, the man licked his suddenly dry lips and glanced at her. She had still yet to answer his question, and frankly, her silence was unnerving. "You are okay, right?" He asked again… though this time hesitance and worry read clearly in the inflection of his voice.

The tears that were streaming down a pale face began to slow. The girl shivered again ,and then swallowed before answering tersely, "I'm fine."

"He didn't… didn't—?" Rape her? Yes… because those were really the words you want to use when speaking to a girl who was just molested… The man settled for something less vulgar. "Get very far… did he?" Ino said nothing, but lowered her gaze back to the road. She didn't want to speak. No, he hadn't gotten very far. But if this guy hadn't shown up—She shook her head lightly, as if trying to wash away the unwelcome thoughts she was not intent on exploring. Especially when Kankuro's touches were still fresh in her mind and on her skin.

Her rescuer swallowed audibly in response to her continued silence. The air between the two began to grow uncomfortable. "Um… I think this is your purse? And heels?" Well _that_ was most certainly a change of topic. Ino glanced back up at the objects he was offering to her. How did he—? "I kind of saw you two in the restaurant… but I thought you two were dating and he was drunk but then you kicked him and ran out so I followed you just in case—you know—and then I saw you kicking off your heels and the guy yelled 'bitch' and ran after you and so I grabbed your things ran to find you but I didn't know you were in an alley so it took me a while but then I heard some talking and followed it here and well…" It was an answer to her unasked question, but it was hardly intelligible seeing as it was all said in a rush… except for the end, where he began to falter a bit. The male scratched his head nervously still holding out the heels and purse she had yet to take.

"Thank you." Ino grabbed her belongings and struggled to stand up. Only then did she realize what was on her back. A coat. A warm black coat. Pulling it tighter around her shoulders, Ino braced herself against the autumn wind.

The man stood up, once again offering a hand to help her up… which she stubbornly ignored. He spoke quietly in response to her actions, but she caught it: "Troublesome." And then he reverted back to normal speech volume. "You sure you're okay?" Ino nodded, both feet now planted firmly on the ground. Her rescuer didn't stay much longer… just to see the nod. And with that nod as a signal, he turned his back to her, raised his hand (sort of like a lazy wave), and left.

The young Yamanaka watched the man's back recede with something akin to shock. He hadn't tried anything, she realized. He really hadn't tried anything. The man was probably the second male to see her half-naked (Kankuro being the first) and he didn't try anything. Ino wasn't sure if she should be flattered or insulted by this.

It didn't matter. She needed to get home. Home… yes, her parents. Well, they were most certainly going to get hell for this. How could they leave her with that—and on a _Sunday_—ugh! With her pissed thoughts as motivation, Ino sniffed away her tears and shoved her arms into the sleeves of the jacket. It was really much too big for her, but it was warm… and that was nice. For some reason she felt comforted by the remnants of the body heat. Using one of the sleeves, Ino wiped away what remained of her tears. Then, she exited the alley and began to focus on how she was going to get home. Where exactly was she anyways?

- : - : - : -

"Hey, Shikamaru…? Where were you man?"

Shikamaru walked into his newly rented flat… Though "flat" would be an understatement… the place was a presidential suite! Furnished with plush couches, potted leafy plants, mahogany furniture, a chandelier… it was most elaborate. But Shikamaru really took no note of it, and instead, threw his ring of keys onto the glass coffee table to his right.

"Hey…? Did you hear my question? Shikamaru?"

He glanced up at the guy talking to him: brown hair, red tattoos on his cheeks, sweat pants, grey hoodie—"Yes, I heard it Kiba." He muttered whipping off the hat and dark glasses he wore. Now, all he had to do was think of a decent lie. Telling his band mate that he had been out stopping a guy from raping a girl would only make the guitarist curious. And curiosity meant that he would ask more questions… and more questions meant that Shikamaru would have more things to answer… and more answers meant more talking… and more talking meant less sleep. And less sleep equaled no bueno. Yeah. The question was simple. Which did he prefer: talking or sleep? He chose the later and responded with: "Just went out. I'm going to sleep, don't bother me." True it wasn't a _decent_ lie—that would have taken too much effort—but, if Kiba knew what was good for him, his hell would end. And it seemed to. Kiba dropped the subject, knowing not to piss off their bassist when he was tired. Instead, the brunette resigned to childishly sticking his tongue out when Shikamaru's back was turned.

Once the other retreated into his room, Kiba, his small white dog, and the steaming mug of coffee, were left alone…

Yes, _coffee. _It had turned into the brunette's midnight snack for the past 3 years. It was the perfect beverage to brood over, especially when his band mates were already asleep… inconsiderate bastards. Whatever. He could normally get by just fine. Even when the other four crashed, leaving Kiba (and Akamaru) alone with nothing but insomnia and the brunette's thoughts. It was odd though… His brain never seemed to sleep. It was always buzzing with ideas—be they in the form of dreams, academics, or insanity. Tonight's indulgence, however, was a topic his brain had yet to explore: _school_.

Now, normally anticipation for school would sound weird… but, given that none of the five band members of had ever actually _been_ to a public school, the idea didn't seem so far-fetched. Because The Revoked was so popular, it meant the five had to endure girls, touring, girls, parties, girls, and tutors (in place of school). Kiba wasn't saying that the tutors were bad (especially not the girl tutors)… just boring. High school was supposed to be a social experience, and he was looking forward to that.

Despite _Kiba's_ enthusiasm, it hadn't actually been the band's idea to attend a public school for senior year. Most of the group was actually opposed to it, but Itachi—Sasuke's brother, and their manager—had insisted. Apparently, attending a public school was good for publicity. It would make the public think that The Revoked valued education just as much as they did music… make the public think that that they wanted a "normal high school experience"… make the public think that even with all the fame, they still wanted to grow up like any other regular teenager would, which meant no touring for the year. Oh the agony!

Another sip of coffee, then Kiba sighed. Yup, that was all it was, a publicity stunt. Aside from himself, Naruto was the only other band member that was exited for school to start. But honestly! Could it be that bad for the others? After all, it wasn't like Itachi had banned them from music. There was no way in heaven, hell, or on God's green earth that they were going to be inactive. Far from it, twelve new songs baby! They were going to be releasing a new album graduation day.

… Well, that was if their bassist (whom also happened to be their lyricist) got off his lazy ass and began to write.

… Hell! Who was he kidding? Shikamaru? It was true that the guy had a way with words, but it took getting hit by a freight train to get his lazy ass inspired. Shit. They weren't just screwed, they were_ monumentally _screwed.

Kiba sipped his coffee some more before emitting another sigh. He straightened up (the brunette had been leaning against the countertop) and turned to the sink dumping what remained of his now-lukewarm beverage into it. "Come on Akamaru, let's sleep." The little white dog at his feet yapped and followed him into his bedroom. God. Hopefully morning came soon.

- : - : - : -

It registered that Ino probably should have shut her curtains… but what had she really expected? Given her state last night and—no. She wasn't going to think about that. She was going to take a hot shower and slip into some unappealing clothes. Yes, that sounded nice. Very nice. Up and at 'em. Ino slipped her legs out from under the bedclothes. It hadn't surprised her that she fell asleep in what was left of her kimono, nor was it particularly surprising when the idea of arguing with her parents disappeared the second she entered her silent—dark—home. Besides. How were they supposed to know that he was such a—_No_. Shit. Why the hell was she doing this to herself? Ino wanted to cry. To lock the memories away with the others.

The blonde ran a hand through her long hair before standing and walking towards her bathroom. Shower. Right, a shower. That was what she wanted—needed. A nice hot shower. After unwrapping the bandages gently, Ino found that her usually flawless skin was now covered in many thumb-sized bruises, especially around her wrists, which probably had to be the most painful. Well, them _and_ the whisker burns that she had discovered hiding at the corners of her mouth and right earlobe. She didn't dwell. At least her other, more private parts, were still intact.

The girl winced as she stepped under the scalding spray of the shower. Perhaps she should have made the water warm…? Ino bathed slowly and gently, scrubbing off what remained of her make-up, and taking great care with washing her hair. Around half an hour or so later, the Yamanaka stepped out of the washroom with a fluffy purple towel wrapped firmly around her. Steam billowed from behind, and her wet hair dripped, in long tendrils, down her back. The blonde walked to the closet, which on the far right of her bedroom, and took out her comforts: a large t-shirt and a pair of one of her old scrub pants (from when she was interning at Konohagakure Hospital—she was rather smart).

After changing, Ino pulled her hair back into a messy, rather lopsided, bun. She grabbed her bag and turned to make her leave, but then something caught her eye. A black coat—_that_ black coat. Ino stopped and stood in silence for at least a minute. Then, with a stoic expression, she went to pick it up. After slinging it on, and her backpack on over it, Ino finally left her room. She closed the door silently behind her, before turning to walk down the hallway and into the kitchen. It didn't surprise her that her father was no where to be found (he had probably already left; his job did call for early hours after all). Her mother, however, was sitting at the kitchen table sipping hot tea and reading the morning paper. Upon Ino's entry, Ayumiko looked up from the post and smiled sweetly at her daughter. "Good morning, darling. How was your night? Did you sleep well?"

"I slept fine." Ino smiled back, but the warmth that was normally in her eyes wasn't present; her mother didn't seem to notice, however, as she returned to looking at the paper with a soft smile.

"Good, good," she said a little distractedly. "I made you some toast." Her mother was engrossed in an article, but seemed to try to pay as much attention to her daughter as she could without turning away from the post. Ayumiko had good multi-tasking skills, so it wasn't hard.

"Thanks, Mamma." Ino grabbed a piece of toast and kissed her mother on the cheek before turning to leave. "I'll see you after school." She said quietly exiting the kitchen and beginning her morning trek to hell.

- : - : - : -

Kiba, on the other hand, found it most amusing to watch his band mates scramble about trying to get ready… Or at least watching Naruto and Sasuke scramble about. Both Shino and Shikamaru were sitting at the table eating breakfast… But then again that wasn't right either. Shino was eating breakfast at the table and Shikamaru was sleeping _on _the table. Screw the technicalities! Watching them scramble was fun.

Sasuke was the band's lead vocals and guitarist (well lead vocalist and _a_ guitarist, all the solos went to Kiba)… He had black hair spiked in the back, obsidian eyes (though he wore red contacts during their live performances), and pale skin. And apparently that made him the sexiest… well _that_ and his voice—at least according to the_ women_. Kiba was _undeniably_ strait. He did _not _swing that way. No, he was strait. Yeah, he was strait.

In fact Kiba was so strait that he was considered the womanizer of the group. Hell… just because he had a new girlfriend every other week didn't make him a womanizer! At least not in his book. Naruto, The Revoked's drummer, however, found that Kiba's elevated status with the women infuriated him. He liked the ladies too dammit! But, unfortunately, the "ladies" perceived the whiskered blonde as comic relief. Comic relief his ass! Naruto was certainly just as good as Kiba was! Damn, he even considered himself a worthy rival of Sasuke's! But _no_. He had funny. The hyperactive blonde was _funny_. That was his label. A damn stupid one. He should be the "sexy" bastard!

And then there was the silent, mysterious, and sensitive one... more commonly known as Shino. He played keyboard and did the tech (like the lights and fog) for the group. And he was damn good at it too. Shino wore dark circular glasses, all the time—even when he was alone. Kiba strongly suspected that the band members were the only people who had ever seen Shino's eyes… and that was only because the five were extremely close. It wasn't that Shino didn't have a reason for hiding his eyes, but The Revoked wished he wouldn't. His eyes were cool—and a perfect look for their band. One was ice blue, and the other… green. But Shino was self-conscious about his eyes, so no one tried to force the shades off his face.

And then there was their lazy ass bassist and lyricist. He was by far the most of a mystery… as Kiba had mentioned before, the guy was a freakin' sloth, a smart ass, and dubbed totally untouchable. And that, for some odd reason, had made him the second most popular in the group. Women were so confusing. Perhaps they liked the sense of a challenge. Whatever. Screw it. Let the women like who they liked...

After a few more minutes of scrambling, the five finally exited their flat and continued on their way to the limo parked out front. "Regular teenager" appearance his ass… how the heck was the public supposed to buy this…?

Surprisingly, their new school wasn't that far away—around five to ten minutes away—but when the group arrived, they immediately wished they hadn't. It was obvious that the students who already attended Konoha High (AN: stupid name I know), were not aware that they were getting new—famous—classmates. Most of the people already on campus, were staring at the shiny black limo like it was something from outer space. It was, after all, a public school… and public schools simply didn't get students showing up in limos.

Shikamaru was not looking forward to stepping out of their ride, but they had to come out sometime… Though he wished it, Itachi would not be very happy if they sat in the car for the first three periods of the day. And Itachi was pretty scary when he was mad. Without paying any mind to the rest of the group's (minus Naruto's) frantic faces, Kiba kicked open the door and strolled out.

And then hell started.

"Holy frick! Is that Kiba Inuzuka? ! From The Revoked! ?" Sure enough, every head on campus turned to look. And there was that earsplitting fangirl scream.

"Troublesome women." Shikamaru grumbled before swallowing his pain and following Sasuke out. Which he found seconds later that was not exactly the brightest thing he could have done.

"SASUKE-KUN!"

Ow. Shikamaru was now sure that after the annoying high-pitched shrieks, his ears would never return to what they once were. Troublesome screaming girls asking for autographs. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his green hoodie, and leaned his head back sighing. Girls took no notice of his annoyance and crowded around the bassist screaming his name while rummaging through their bags for a slip of paper and a pen. And then he caught it, an oddly familiar streak of platinum and a black coat. He turned to look at the person who had captured his attention, but found no one. Must have just been his imagination, too much stimulation from the mess of screaming people.

It was around three minutes later, when their bodyguards finally decided to get out of the car and offer some protection from the horde of fans. This was going to be a long year… What a drag.

* * *

**AN: I've finished outlining the next couple of chapters (I haven't written them yet) but be forewarned… If you are a particularly strong TemarixShikamaru fan… erm… there's some Temari bashing coming up… Aaand a LOT of **_**angst**_**(I typically don't write angst so sorry if it sucks)! ****I'll try to post up new chapters as quickly as I can. High school, and the homework it brings, is a drag… (Lol Shika pun XD)**** So s****tick with me!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I have some notes for my lovely reviewers (:**

******Nerviouza:: She/he asked about my POV. Erm… I really have no idea what POV this is in? It's supposed to be third omniscient … but I suppose I'm not too great at expressing POV. There are just too many different character thoughts I want to add, which I can't really do in first person. Or so was my idea anyway—Apparently I fail terribly D:**

**F0llenAngel:: She/he cleverly pointed out that I never actually mentioned the pairings for this fic. And I don't want you guys to be blindsided so I'll list them. There is probably going to be a lot of one-sided love/lust but I'm not one hundred percent sure who's going to like whom… The pairings that I **_**know**_** are going to appear are:**

**Shikamaru x Ino (obviously), Shikamaru x Temari, Sasuke x Ino, Shino x Hinata (maybe), and Naruto x Hinata. **

**Another forewarning is that Sakura is going to play the annoying prep villain role... so she'll be pretty OC (okay REALLY OC) but hey—someone's gotta play that role, or at least in this fanfic.**

**DISCLAIMER: If I actually owned Naruto, Shikamaru and Ino would have gotten together a long time ago. But sadly I don't…**

**Naruto © KISHIMOTO**

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CH 3

Why the heck was there a limo on their campus? She _was_ in the right place, right? Ino looked up at the golden words, which hung above the double doors leading to the front office. "Konoha High…" Yup, she was in the right place, but then that really didn't explain why there was a _limo_ parked out front. She frowned lightly and craned her neck to get a better look.

"Holy frick!" Ino jumped at the sudden outburst, but then turned to stare at the brunette who had decided to scream bloody murder at the sight of the limousine door opening. "Is that Kiba Inuzuka, from The Revoked! ?"

The Revoked? Ino's eyes widened in shock. _No way_. That wasn't possible. The Revoked on their campus? Honestly of all the ridiculous—Holy flying cows! Was that Sasuke Uchiha getting out? This was unreal! It couldn't really be him. The amazing singer… incredibly hot… 17-year old…? _That_ Sasuke Uchiha? The blonde wasn't sure if she could believe her eyes. From a good ten meters away, Ino watched in fascination (there was really no point in sprinting up to the group of teenage males when fans were already mauling them). It still didn't make sense, though. This was a high school. Why on earth were they _here_? Was it some kind of special… benefit…? concert or something?

Ino didn't have long to cultivate her thoughts. As soon as the rest of the sexy band members filed out of the vehicle, the group had successfully captured and held her attention at a fangirl-ish ransom. Well, that was until the sound of someone frantically crying her name pulled the blonde from her pleasant reverie.

"I-Ino-chan?"

Ino blinked a couple of times. It took a moment for her to register that—yes—someone was calling her name, but once she did, her head whipped around to look for the meek voice "Hinata? Hinata, where are you?"

It was like being caught in rapids; girls, and some guys (their music appealed to both genders after all), who were already on campus, were sprinting towards the band. Ino pushed her way through the mess of people searching in vain for her friend. Where was she? And why exactly was she speaking frantically? In her search, the blonde came upon a girl with short, black hair. She was curled up on the floor, shaking slightly, and covering her head in fear of getting trampled. Bingo. There she was.

"What the hell is the matter with you people! ? Can't you see someone's fallen down and—" But no one was listening. Inconsiderate pricks. Ino shoved the people stepping over Hinata away and helped the frightened girl to her feet. "Are you okay?" She asked on instinct, and then almost slapped herself for lack of tact. The girl was not only still shaking, but now she was struggling to answer the question. "Wait, don't answer yet. Let's get out of here." And one timid nod later, the two were pushing their way through the swarm to find some place of refuge.

Girls… _a lot of girls… S_tudents… more students… teachers?… bench… Hey look, a bench. Good enough for now. Once they were both seated on the metal bench, and successfully out of the way of the stampede rushing to the band, Ino repeated her question. "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine, Ino-chan. T-Thank you."

Ino smiled brightly in relief. The stuttering was normal, even though the two had been close friends for nearly a year (after having been in most of the same classes last year). Hinata was not, per se, the girl someone would want to hang out with to gain status—a high school "weirdo." But labels were overrated. Hinata was _not _a "weirdo." Really, once you got past her shyness and slight speech impediment, she was the sweetest person one could ever meet. But of course, the idiots here _wouldn't_ get past her shyness or her speech problems. "That's good." Ino spoke abruptly, not wishing for her thoughts to stray into a more derogatory zone. "So how was your weekend?" Ino always started her Monday morning conversations this way.

Hinata smiled a little playing with a strand of her hair before clasping the restless hands in her lap gently. "It was f-fine. And your w-weekend, Ino chan?"

Immediately, thoughts of last night's dinner flooded into the blonde's mind. Damn… and she had just had moments of peace from those memories—"It could have been better," she replied honestly. The memory, however, caused her to bow her head and stare at the ground, sourly. Hopefully her friend missed the action, and would leave what she said about her weekend at just that.

Hinata however, responded with a polite: "I'm so s-sorry, Ino-chan. What h-happened?" Shit. Ino should have just lied and said her weekend was fine… Now she _needed_ a good lie. Come up with a lie. Anytime would be nice… preferably sooner than later. Please? A lie? _Any_ lie! Crap, Hinata was beginning to look at her worriedly.

"Erm…" Ino forced a small smile trying to prepare something to say—but she was spared from answering when the sound of a three-beat bell cut off the beginning of her nonexistent sentence. Mentally thanking whoever created school (for the first time in her life) Ino sprang to her feet, a little too quickly. "Shouldn't we be getting to class?" She asked slowly and evenly, as not to raise suspicion for dodging the question.

Hinata rose to her feet gracefully, but her face was filled with apology. "Ah! I'm s-sorry, Ino-chan." The dark-haired girl bowed her head to the taller blonde and slung a book bag over her shoulder. Wait, why exactly was she apologizing? Ino shrugged it off… Hinata apologized for everything, whether it was her fault or not.

The blonde smiled lightly and led the other into the English building. The two were chatting quietly upon entry, only to be stopped rudely by the reason Ino considered high school to be a living hell. Introducing head cheerleader Sakura Haruno, and her Co-Captain Temari Sabaku (hopefully there was no relation to the perv she was with yesterday).

"God, Ino-pig. Watch where you're going."

That was the forehead-freak. Ino rolled her eyes lightly and stepped to her left. "Pardon me Haruno-san." She forced the kindness; Ino wasn't, after all, looking to start a fight so early in the morning. Besides, the blonde was supposed to have a low profile; what was the point in snapping at the other girl—? It would just make them late to class and earn her brownie points (among some) for telling the popular cheer captain off.

"Did you just—?" To Ino. But then the unnaturally pink-haired cheerleader turned to look at the dirty-blonde standing next to her. Obviously the forehead freak did not want to converse with those at the bottom of the social ladder. "Did she just—?" To Temari. "Roll her eyes at me?" One-minute bell. Come on hurry up, Haruno.

Temari glanced at the pink-haired, flat-chested girl beside her and shrugged—it seemed she didn't want a fight at the moment either—but Sakura was insistent.

"You did, didn't you—you pig."

Really? She was going to start a fight over eye rolling? Wow, Sakura really was desperate. "So what if I did?" No. Bad Ino! That was _not_ the smartest thing to say… Why did she say that? Adding fuel to the fire was not part of her plan.

"Uh! You should consider yourself lucky to even _talk_ to me and I get… that?"

"I'm sorry, should I have put more effort into it?" Ino rolled her eyes dramatically. "Better?" She asked, her expression now stoic. What was she doing? Stop it.

"Better! ?" Sakura repeated, shifting her weight onto her right leg and crossing her arms. And that was the late bell… Shit.

The pinkette did not hide her smirk well. You, see? Lateness was part of her evil plan, and now that the two were late, there was really no more reason for the cheer captain to lower herself to communicate with "weirdoes." "Fine, bitch, take your blind speech freak and get the hell away from me." Silence. Uneasy silence. Temari glanced at her friend rather stunned and appalled by her choice of words. Sure she was friends with the girl, but that didn't mean she thought Sakura's insults were necessary. Hinata was staring wide-eyed at the cheerleaders. Her large grey eyes began to well up and her bottom lip trembled, pitiably.

Ino, on the other hand, looked livid. The pinkette could go ahead and insult the blonde, but for fuck's sake! Hinata had enough on her plate. What the hell did she do to deserve the cheerleaders' harassment? Ino turned to the dark-haired girl. Trying to offer a look of apology for Sakura, she attempted to catch the other's eye, but was having a difficult time. Hinata, who was now feeling extremely self-conscious at the color of her irises, kept glancing away. "Hinata. It's okay, just ignore them—they don't know you, their opinions don't matter." Ino said softly to the tearing girl beside her. "Let's just get to class, okay? They aren't worth our time." With a small, wet sob, Hinata's face disappeared into her hands. Not chancing an annoyed glace at Sakura from over her shoulder, the blonde was left with little to do but steer the sniffling girl away.

Then she heard it. A small scoff from behind followed by: "Ugly whores."

That hit home. Call Ino a bitch, but a _whore_…! ? No. Ino's grip on Hinata's arm tightened sharply, making the timid female whimper lightly. She seethed for a moment, before realizing her nails were digging into Hinata's skin, and, as an instinctive response, quickly let go of her friend's arm. She then turned to the Haruno with a disgusted look on her face. It was obvious that what the blonde was going to say next, would be regretted. She said it anyways: "Sorry you flat-chested forehead-freak, but Hinata and I aren't interested in learning your profession… what was it you were offering…? Tips on being an ugly whore—perhaps your devotee over there might want some—but piss off and leave the rest of us alone."

Sakura turned red (it clashed alarmingly with the color of her hair) out of both embarrassment and anger. A pale hand flew to her forehead and for once, the cheerleader was at a loss for words. When the lost words finally came, what they offered was less than intelligent. "It's not that big is it?" Sakura asked her co-captain worriedly. Without waiting for an answer, the cheerleader began tugging her pink bangs out of the tight cheer ponytail, and attempting to fix the strands in a way that would shield her forehead from view.

Temari glared at Ino before turning to console the now fretting Sakura. "No, Sakura, it's not that big. Ino-san was just speaking out of anger." Temari forced the honorific, casting another glare at Ino.

Ino however, ignored the two and turned to the, still shaking, dark-haired girl. "Come on, Hinata."

- : - : - : -

Shikamaru, and the rest of the members of The Revoked, exited the front office (after receiving their schedules from the principal), tentatively. It was not in their best interest to get attacked again. Luckily, the hallways were deserted… at least for the most part—Shikamaru could hear someone talking quietly somewhere down the corridor. It was, however, obscured slightly by Naruto's loud complaints about his schedule. But the bassist was too lazy to pinpoint the source and instead took to listening to Naruto's protests.

And all was fine and dandy until the quiet talking escalated to shouting, making the matter unable to be left alone any longer. Troublesome. Shikamaru's head turned to search for the noise. _"Did you just-? Did she just roll her eyes at me?"_ A pause. _"You did didn't you—you pig!" _The voice was certainly shrill. The octave made Shikamaru's head pound in complaint.

"Hey, check it out! Cat fight." There was an air of excitement in Kiba's voice.

_-"So what if I did?"-_

"Where?" Naruto's inflection matched the brunette's. How could he have not heard that?

_-"Uh! You should consider yourself lucky to even talk to me and I get… that?"-_

"Three o'clock." Every head turned to look… even Shino and Sasuke's—curiosity was a compelling force after all. Now if only they had some popcorn to go with their live show.

_-"I'm sorry, should I have put more effort into it?" _Pause._ "Better?"-_

She looked familiar. The one who just spoke. Shikamaru surveyed the girl with curiosity. Platinum hair… probably long—though he couldn't tell because it was tied up—pale skin… with a couple of bruises… soft features… ill-fitting clothes… black jacket—wait. That jacket looks a lot like… No. That wasn't possible. That jacket was…? Holy crap. That was _his_ jacket. Then that means that she was… shit, no way. Shikamaru stared at the blonde incredulously. There was no freakin' way.

_-"Better? ! Fine, bitch, take your blind speech freak and get the hell away from me."-_

"Oh, that was low, man. Low. She shouldn't have attacked the other chick." Kiba watched the group of feuding girls with interest. That is, until he and Naruto began arguing quietly about how the fight would unfold. Since they could not reach a consensus, the two males decided to bet on how it would turn out. Kiba put twenty on the blonde snapping and tackling the pink-haired girl to the ground. And Naruto took the bet... it wasn't likely... the girl seemed too delicate... she would most definitely retort verbally. Shikamaru sighed in annoyance at their childish actions—troublesome.

The blonde glared at the pink-haired girl… making both of the hyperactive males hold their breath in anticipation. But then she turned to the, now crying, dark-haired girl and began to talk to her, quietly. After a moment or so, the blonde girl led the crying girl away gently.

"Ha! OHH! Twenty bucks, dog-breath. Pay up!"

_-"Ugly whores."-_

"Shut it, Naruto! It's not over, yet." Kiba said angrily. It was a wide known fact that the brunette hated to lose; if there was the slightest chance of Kiba's victory… then, by hell, they were going to sit and watch.

The blonde, at three o'clock, tensed visibly at the pinkette's comment. "Oh? Oh! She's gonna snap."

"Crap." Truth said, Naruto did not have twenty bucks to give to the Inuzuka if he lost. But the source of their bet didn't seem to act on her tension. Perhaps not all was hopeless.

The platinum haired girl turned on the other an expression of disgust written clearly on her face.

-_"Sorry you flat-chested forehead-freak, but Hinata and I aren't interested in learning your profession… what was it you were offering…? Tips on being an ugly whore—perhaps your devotee over there might want some—but piss off and leave the rest of us alone."-_

"_Burn!_" Kiba and Naruto burst out laughing, leaning on the other for support. The blonde girl, was now successfully leading her friend away, and the pink-haired girl, in a cheer uniform, was scarlet, and fixing her hair in a compact.

"You owe my twenty, dog boy. But you know some nails in that fight would have been nice," Naruto added thoughtfully, as he entertained a fantasy where the two females were circling each other with their over-dramatized red nails bared and skimpy P.E. uniforms (from the mangas he stayed up 'till midnight reading) hugging their bodies tightly.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, who was sporting a rather goofy grin, before rolling his eyes and scoffing: "Tch. Dobe."

"Shut up, Teme!" Came Naruto's witty response.

And then Kiba was to his rescue. "Naw, really Sasuke. Claws would have been nice." The brunette replied, before fishing through his wallet for a twenty (no one said he wasn't fair). He threw the cash at an unaware Naruto, who dropped it and scrambled to snatch the paper off the floor. Must save his ramen money for the week. Shino watched the display with a stoic expression, his hands hidden somewhere in his pockets, and Shikamaru was still paying attention to the blonde girl, who had now stopped to talk to the dark-haired girl again.

Then, the two cheerleader girls, who had been arguing earlier, caught sight of the band members and hurried over to the group. The pinkette was still slightly flushed and smoothing down her bangs when she arrived.

The girl gave a sickeningly sweet smile and introduced herself to the group… scratch that. No, the pink-haired girl introduced herself to Sasuke. "Hello. I'm Sakura Haruno." She started breathlessly. "That's Temari Sabaku." She nodded over towards the dirty-blonde, momentarily losing the breathlessness. "And we're the students that are supposed to show you around school this week. I'm sure Tsunade-sensei told you this, but I hope we get along well!" Joy.

Shino was the first to make any acknowledgement towards the new arrivals. "Pleasure to meet you both," he said monotonously, bowing his head respectfully to the females.

"I'm glad Tsunade-sensei gave us such _lovely _tour guides," Kiba responded second. The sentence was accompanied with his signature smile that made most women weak in the knees.

"Lovely, Sakura-san." And there was Naruto's puppy love… He was not very good at flirting, but he usually chose the most attractive girl he saw (at the moment) to pursue. Then why did he choose Sakura, her friend was much more attractive. The head cheerleader looked Naruto up and down briefly, without her fake smile, before turning back to Sasuke and flashing it at him again.

She tried to grab his arm, but said raven moved away from the girl and crossed his arms. "Hn."

Shikamaru looked over the pink cheerleader with slight contempt. Then, he turned to look at her friend who had been staring at him for the past couple of minutes—Temari was it? "Pleasure." He said softly before shifting his gaze over Temari's shoulder. An empty hallway. Troublesome. Where did that blonde go?


	4. Chapter 4

**For your patience with me, be rewarded with _length_! ****Aaaaand 1000+ Views! I love you guys!**

**DISCLAIMER: I claim nothing but the plotline :) All characters © MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

* * *

CH4

That was it. Mondays sucked. They sucked. They sucked. They sucked. The damn day was never-ending! Decades could have passed between first and fourth hour and nobody would have noticed… at _all._ But that was what lunch was for, right? Some random free time to relax and vent to friends—just ignore the fact that they were supposed to be eating (Ino didn't eat much anyways) and yup, random free time was a pretty accurate definition of lunch… well, for the Yamanaka anyways.

With a soft sigh, Ino walked into the crowded cafeteria. She frowned slightly at the ever-contrasting scents, wrinkled her nose in response to the stench, and then proceeded to take her rightful place at the back of the lunch line (even if she didn't eat a lot, Ino still liked to keep her options open). She felt her stomach lurch, as some nasty odor wafted in front of her, and the blonde pegged it as bad B.O. The smells in the lunchroom were so hard to distinguish that Ino had to actually _question_ what gruel the school would serve today. Great. Ino was not particularly looking forward to purchasing the debatable meal.

Lost in her own musings, Ino began to tap her foot idly and twirl a stray strand of platinum around her finger. It wasn't much longer when a familiar meek voice pulled her back to reality.

"H-How has your d-day been so far, Ino-chan?"

Ino blinked a couple of times before turning to look at Hinata a sarcastic smile spreading across her face. "Long. And yours?"

"Very g-good." Hinata stuttered twiddling her fingers as they waited for their food. Scratch that… Hinata stuttered and twiddled her fingers as they waited for their _mush_. What was it anyways? Ino picked up one of the styrofoam trays and eyed the concoction warily. It appeared to be Mac 'n cheese… that or some other hideous alloy of noodles and cheese. She wondered absentmindedly if the meal would go strait to her hips but dismissed the thought. With a grimace, Ino made her way to the purchasing line and, after waiting a few more moments, bought the lame excuse for food. Hinata followed quickly behind, sporting her own tray of mush, and then the two proceeded to head to their "designated table," which was better known as the freak table. At least according to Sakura, who had been the one to affectionately dub it.

The cafeteria was organized like most typical high school lunchrooms. There were assigned tables for the geeks, emos, goths, drama kids, punks, rich peps, jocks, cheerleaders, and then their very own freak table. Aside from the cheerleaders, rich peps, and jocks, the members of each table never really mixed. That was just the way things went. People kept to their distinct cliques and never mingled unless it was for a school function or something like a party…

Well, at least that was the case for most tables. The "freak table" was often invited to parties (out of pure politeness) but the members usually declined every invitation. Why would you want attend a party you were only invited to go to out of pity—where people were likely to judge and mock you if you showed up? That's right. You wouldn't. The "freaks" had figured that out pretty quickly.

The table only had three regulars—Ino, Hinata, and Choji—and but the group was inseparable. Who gave a flying fuck what everyone else called them, as long as they had each other, and left school generally unscathed, Ino was not going to start complaining. Besides, her other two friends weren't complaining. But then again they didn't really complain. Hinata _never_ complained—it was like engraved in her D.N.A or something, and Choji only complained when his thoughts were drawn to how hungry he was.

Yes that was Choji's life: food. The brown-haired male was already sitting at their table munching heartily on a bag of chips. "You know Choji, you're not going to be able to work those off." Ino said lightly as she took her seat across from the Akimichi.

The chubby male only halted in shoving chips in his mouth to shoot her a playful glare. Then he responded, through a mouthful of food, with "Whrafrgm igrph fuurm oogm." Ino quirked a slender eyebrow and smiled. The blonde had met Choji a couple of months before Hinata; as a result, the two were practically siblings.

Hinata had joined their group as a third-party member when she transferred to Konoha High in the middle of Ino's junior year. Her family was incredibly wealthy, but due to her speech problems and shyness, no one ever made the connection that the very girl they had chosen to outcast was in fact the rightful heir to the billionaire Hyuuga Corporation (Ino hadn't known either until Hinata begun to open up more around herself and Choji). Due to her minimal "problems," Hinata was promptly ignored for weeks upon weeks. It was only until Ino, frustrated by her peers' actions, offered to sit with the girl at lunch was she really left alone.

Most knew not to mess with Ino (or her friends). It was a wide-known fact that the blonde was the daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka, the business tycoon. Her father was an extremely influential person, and he was rather protective of his only child. Rumors of how all hell broke loose, when Inoichi found out that someone had been harassing his daughter at her old school, followed Ino to her current school. Said harasser was promptly suspended and mysteriously ended up being hospitalized for the week of his scheduled return (and as for the young Yamanaka, she never came to her parents about social problems again). Upon hearing the rumors, Ino's classmates were torn between being scared of Ino, whispering behind her back, or being in odd awe of her. It was then, that Ino decided she did not like attention from her peers—in _any_ way, shape, or form. They were so fickle with things like status. Ino liked stability, so she lowered her profile, and hoped to stick with her "freak" label. Perhaps that would allow her to slip by unnoticed by other students. And it seemed to. Ino rarely had uncomfortable interactions with other students besides Hinata, Choji, or Sakura and her posse.

Despite her good relations with both of her two friends, Choji and Ino had to be a wee bit closer. This meant that because she'd known the guy for a long time, Ino could generally decipher his jumbled spewing of syllables and chips into intelligible words. In this case "Whrafrgm igrph fuurm oogm" was loosely translated to "What's it to you?"

"It's not polite to speak with your mouth full, Choji." Ino scolded lightheartedly, now greatly amused by the fact he was still shoveling food into his mouth. "Besides, I saw you when you made the swim team last year. You trim up nicely… Don't you think you're being a just little bit selfish in keeping that _awesome_ beauty all to yourself?" She teased, making the brunette turn scarlet.

Hinata giggled behind her hand at the blonde's comment.

After sputtering out a few more chips, successfully coating the table with bits of soggy Lays, he turned to Ino still red. "It was not my decision to go out for the swim team, you know that—! My dad wanted me too—! And I—No. I need my chips—how else am I supposed to function without a constant supply of energy?" Choji stumbled over his words, trying to get out what he wanted to say intelligibly, and only barely succeeding. Then, the male went back to cheerfully shoving the last of the chips into his mouth, unable to hide the resounding blush on his cheeks.

Ino turned to Hinata… "Aw, someone's shy." She said with a playful smirk. The comment only resulted with another sputtering sound, and Choji's blush to reach his ears. Ino's smile grew before she gently shoved her tray across the table. "Do you want my… lunch?" She asked trying to decide what to call the pulp. He looked at her startled before taking the tray and beginning to shovel down the noodles. "Consider it a way of me saying that I personally don't care what you look like, no matter what Billboard-brow, or some other lame jock, says to you."

Choji smiled between mouthfuls and continued eating.

Ino then turned her full attention on Hinata again, and began to initiate pleasant small talk. The part about not caring about how he looked was true… but that wasn't the whole reason for her giving up her lunch. The truth was, Ino really wasn't eating because she was afraid if she swallowed the meal, the contents would make her hips fat. Despite the fact the blonde hid behind baggy clothes, and she didn't like the wrong sort of attention, Ino had still retained some of her worry antics about her appearance. She was still very fond of the way she looked, and liked to know that she could look and feel beautiful, when necessary. Besides, it didn't look like she was going to like today's school lunch, anyways. Whatever, she'd just mooch off an apple and a low-carb sandwich when she got home… it sounded much more appetizing than Mac 'n cheese. And then it occurred to her. Why had she never brought a lunch from home in the first place…? Hmm… odd. Ino would have to start doing that from now on.

On the other side of the lunchroom, earsplitting shrieks echoed off the whitewashed walls. Obviously it was the sign of The Revoked's entry. Ino snapped her head towards the doors and nudged Hinata's arm gently. "That's The Revoked! You know them right? Of course you know them, I've made you listen to their music countless times, but it's so freakin' awesome they're at our school!" Ino was talking excitedly, not quite at the octave most of the other girls in the cafeteria were screaming at, but she was thrilled nonetheless. The attractive teenage males were standing in the lunch line—wait, were they actually going to eat the school's lunch? The answer was apparently "yes" as they took the trays of Mac 'n cheese and turned to pay for their food. Stunning. Even Sasuke-kun? She glanced over at the raven-haired singer. Yup, him too. Bizarre. "You know, if they end up eating that, they're going to get sick or something. Choji's fine because his stomach's made of iron but them…? I get the distinct impression that they don't eat school lunches often," Ino said sarcastically.

Hinata nodded absentmindedly. She was occupied with watching the band, at the same level of intensity her blonde friend was, to make much sense out of what had been said. Her gaze however, was stationed more on the guy behind Sasuke than at the band as a whole. The guy behind Sasuke happened to be a certain spiky-haired blonde, and his presence was making a deep blush spread across Hinata's cheeks. Ino spoke again. "You did know that they are now attending this school, right? That's why you were knocked down in that rush this morning." Apparently the short-haired female didn't know, seeing as Hinata had squeezed her eyes shut, shook her head roughly, and made a small "eep-ing" noise. Wow.

Hinata opened her eyes again… The blush was still profound on her face as she gazed at the drummer. Ino followed the Hyuuga's gaze. She smiled slightly before saying: "Either you really like their music—and are awed into epic silence because of it—or you think Uzumaki-san is hot."

Hinata blushed deeper (if that was possible) and Ino's suspicions were confirmed. Oh it was going to take a while before she'd let this pass. Too good. Hinata had a crush on someone? It was so weird! She'd never seen her friend with a schoolgirl crush before (then again with the jerks that attended Konoha high, that small bit of information wasn't particularly surprising). But this _juicy_ bit of information was very fascinating indeed.

The Revoked made their way to the cheerleader table. They were following behind a very enthusiastic bubblegum-haired cheerleader. Sakura. Ino felt a great deal of her admiration for the band vanish instantly (Not all, obviously—their music was still epic and their hotness earned them some brownie points), but they were _already_ associating with Sakura! ? How could they not notice her fake smiles, bitchy attitude, and—? She held her ruder thoughts back but let her smile falter as she watched the group take their seats.

- : - : - : -

Shikamaru approached the table with a wildly-less-than-enthusiastic look planted on his face. What was this shit they were supposed to be eating? He wasn't going to touch it. Better safe than sorry after all, it wasn't like he was looking to have some sort of bacterial infection his first, official week of public high school. The bassist took a seat on one of the plastic chairs and plopped the tray to his left. Then, he stuck his head onto the tabletop. Perhaps it wasn't the most sanitary thing to do, but why did it really matter? The boy was tired!

"Shikamaru-kun?" With an inward groan he pulled his head up and looked at the dirty-blonde who had spoken. "I'd like to introduce you to a couple of people." Right sure. Because he was really in the mood to meet people at the moment. "This is Tenshitenna, but she prefers to go by Tenten," a brunette with two buns on the side of her head looked at Shikamaru and smiled sweetly. "The guy sitting next to her is her best friend, Lee." A male in green gave him a toothy smile with a brazen thumbs-up sign. Holy flying crap muffins! Lee had to have the biggest eyebrows Shikamaru had ever seen. The bassist bit back a witty comment as he let Temari finish off her introductions.

Somehow he had managed to tune out what she was saying… She had already, apparently, introduced him to four more girls and their boyfriends while he was busy staring at Lee's eyebrows. Good Lord, he probably made the guy uncomfortable. And now he felt like shit. "And this, as you know, is Sakura." Temari smiled at him brightly taking the open seat to his right, after she was finished with the introductions. Great. Now that that was over with, it was time for him to sleep. Shikamaru put his head back on the table and squeezed his eyes shut. He had a splitting headache—induced by the affections of female fans—and all he really wanted to do at the moment was ditch the noisy cafeteria. Ditch the noisy cafeteria, go outside to some isolated patch of grass, and watch the clouds while falling asleep. Oh man, that sounded nice.

With a small groan of annoyance, Shikamaru screwed his eyes shut tighter and tried to block out the unnecessary noise. Most of which was coming from Temari, who had decided to instigate a one-sided conversation with him. Sleep… sleep… sleep…

Shikamaru was actually pretty good with napping through sound, and though it was rude to ignore the cheerleader chatting heartily beside him, he really couldn't care less at the moment. Too much pain was ringing through his head for him to even _try_ to muster up his manners. But soon enough, the Nara didn't have to worry about the blonde's feelings anymore. He had slipped into a rather uncomfortable sleep.

Which meant that since Shikamaru had refused to take his head off the table to even look at her (due to the fact he was now fast asleep—and even snoring softly), Temari turned with an indignant huff to Sakura. The dirty-blonde looked at the girl for a moment before voicing the thoughts that had been running through her head all morning. "Sakura, why do you do it?"

"Do what?" Sakura turned, from hanging off of an irritated Sasuke's arm, to face her co-captain.

"Insult Hinata-san all the time?"

The pinkette watched the other for a long while before sighing. "I have nothing against Hinata-san. It's just that Ino-pig pisses me off so much. She's a fuckin' rock; the bitch doesn't respond to any of my insults. And the only method that works in pissing _her_ off is by attacking her fat freak or that blind bitch—" Temari opened her mouth to object to the insults, but Sakura corrected herself. "Sorry." She couldn't think of Choji's name so she settled with, "I meant _Hinata-san_." She laughed and continued with a phony smile. "I've just gotten so used to calling her that. It's force of habit now."

"Right," Temari said before picking up her plastic spork and lazily chasing a pea around the side of her tray. The pink-haired cheerleader went back to ogling Sasuke after the moment of silence. "There are other ways you know."

"Other ways to what?" Sakura responded not taking her gaze from the annoyed raven. That same loopy smile was still plastered to her face.

"To piss her off."

And that caught her attention. "Mm-hmmm… I'm listening Tem. Care to elaborate?"

A couple of moments later, Shikamaru opened his eyes lazily and yawned. So what did he miss during his brief lapse of reality? Temari was talking to her friend, Sasuke and Shino were conversing in low tones (despite being surrounded by squealing girls), and Kiba was _attempting_ to show Naruto how to pick up chicks. Naruto was failing miserably. Huh… apparently he missed nothing.

And then the male suddenly felt very self-conscious… like someone was watching him, but wasn't going to do anything about it. Just watching him. The thought was unnerving. He looked around for the source of the feeling and his eyes fell upon a girl with a baggy black coat and platinum-blonde hair. He looked at her curiously. Warm dark eyes met pastel blue held… locked… then broke when she gave him a startled look and turned away, hastily. Shikamaru continued to survey the blonde; she had gone back to talking to the dark-haired girl she'd stood up for in the hallway that morning.

Did she—? How could she—? No. This was bad. Did she know who he was…? Well, of course she knew who he was—everyone knew who he was—but did she know that he was the one who had… No. No. That wasn't possible. She couldn't know. It was dark. He was wearing sunglasses and a hat. She couldn't know…? Could she? Troublesome. He willed for his brain to stop it's annoying prattling but his brain ignored the command. Slightly annoyed, Shikamaru turned to Temari, to catch the last bit of her conversation with Sakura, instead.

"Today?" That was Temari. She looked slightly worried.

"Why not? Sixth hour. Today. It's perfect." Temari gave her a skeptical look. "Oh come on it was _your_ brilliant idea! You should be proud. Besides, it won't be that bad. P.E. is last hour…no one's going to stick around late today. She'll get over it."

"Fine, Sakura." And then she caught sight of an alert Shikamaru. "Shikamaru-kun! You're awake. Did you have a nice nap?"

"Ah… it was good enough." He replied vaguely. What the hell had they been talking about? Curse his curiosity.

- : - : - : -

Had Nara-san just been looking at her? Their eyes had locked but… no. Weird. Too weird. He was famous for crying out loud! Famous people simply didn't notice freaks. They weren't allowed to notice someone like her. It was against the rules of high school.

Ino shook off the thought. _It was pure coincidence._ She told herself a couple of times before glancing back at the cheerleader table. Nara-san was now busy chatting with _Temari_. See purely coincidence. Uh! He was going to become another popular jerk wasn't he?

Temari was rather high on her do-not-talk-to list; she hovered right below Sakura herself. Though the co-captain was—admittedly—not as bad as Sakura, the girl was still guilty by association. The two were best friends. That definitely qualified as association. And since Nara-san was conversing pleasantly with Temari, he was likely going to be scribbled somewhere in her do-not-talk-to list for the same reasons Temari was there.

The blonde turned back to look at Hinata, who's gaze was stationed at the table hers was at only seconds ago. She, however, was watching Uzumaki-san... again. Ino smiled knowingly. "Why don't you go talk to him?" Hinata turned scarlet at being caught gazing at the drummer. She whipped her head around to look at Ino again.

"Wh-what?" Her blush was now engulfing her face. Aw. It was cute.

"Well, it obviously looks like he wants a girlfriend—see he's over there trying to be all flirty with girls—and you're much better than any of those Barbie dolls. Go on. Talk to him."

"N-No, Ino-san. No-I-I couldn't," She protested clasping her hands together nervously.

Choji looked up from his meal. "What's going on?"

"I'm trying to get Hinata to go talk to The Revoked's drummer."

"Why...?"

Hinata buried her face into her hands and made another small "eep-ing" noise. The blonde smirked. "Isn't it obvious? She's _desperately _in love with him." Ino teased, as Hinata donned a shade of red that she could have sworn was not humanly possible.

"What?" Choji was looking at Hinata curiously. He really didn't get female emotions. The brunette, however, had to force himself to attempt some form of understanding because both of his best friends were girls.

"Their wedding is gonna have ponies, and pink flowers, and ponies. Then, they're gonna have three kids, two boys and a girl, and are going to be madly in love forever and ever—" Ino gushed as Choji looked at the girl like she'd grown another head. The blonde's smirk was still in place as she watched Hinata's reaction. Her meek friend looked incredibly liable to spontaneously combust. She was ever so uncomfortable: shifting nervously in her seat, and growing redder by the second. "And they're going to honeymoon in Paris—the city of love—eating croissants and—"

The lunch bell rang cutting of Ino's elaborate fantasy. Hinata sprang to her feet, grabbing her bag and bowing quickly to Ino and Choji. "I-I'll leave first, I-Ino-san, Choji-san." And then the girl sprinted from the cafeteria as though hell's fire was licking at her heels.

Ino glanced at Choji worriedly. "I didn't over do it did I?"

"I don't even know what you were doing." He admitted with a shrug. "But knowing Hinata, she's not going to hate you for it."

_Hopefully._ The blonde thought to herself as she slung her own backpack over her shoulder. She walked with Choji to calculus and they sat at the back of the class. Math was slow. Their teacher, Ibiki-sensei, was a tough, _good,_ but his lectures were boring. Ino was more than grateful when the bell rang signaling the end of class. It meant there was only one more hour of torture, and then she'd be free. Freedom!

Ino packed up quickly (as did Choji) and the two walked down the halls chatting lightly. Halfway through an enjoyable discussion, the warning bell sounded cutting their conversation short. Ino glanced up at the intercom system with remorse. This was so bittersweet. "I'll see you, tomorrow, Choji," Ino responded as she made her way to her final hour.

Her final hour, sixth hour, was Physical Education. See…? Bittersweet. The sweetness came from the fact that P.E. was her _last hour_ of the day, but the bitterness came from _having _P.E. as the last hour of the day. It wasn't that Ino didn't like exercise (actually she exercised on her own quite often) it was the uniforms that fueled her hate. The mangas didn't lie. At Konoha High, they did have to wear the really short, navy shorts and white t-shirt with their full names written on the front in Japanese Kanji. The required clothes made Ino rather uncomfortable; the scraps of cloth showed much more than they covered.

Usually, Ino refused to dress out into the ridiculous uniforms—which was causing her grade to suffer much to her annoyance. If they wanted her to dress out, the least the curators of the school could do was make the P.E. uniforms tasteful. This week, however, the co-ed classes were starting a swimming segment. Yes _swimming_. Ino knew what that meant: she couldn't participate at _all _in regular clothes… Curse it! She'd have to change into the school swimsuit this week. And that likely meant she was going to get stares. The blonde groaned inwardly and tightened her grip on one of the straps of her backpack. Last hour was going to suck.

Ino opened the doors to the gym and stood behind the blob that was formed in the center of the basketball court. Her knuckles were turning white, from gripping the strap so tightly, as their coach began to take roll. "And last, but not least, Yamanaka, Ino!"

"Here." Ino squeaked. Her name was always called last, that much wasn't new.

"Good! Everyone's here! Now go be youthful and change into the swimming suits of sublimity!" Gai-sensei's voice boomed merrily through the near-silent gym. The co-ed crowd dispersed into their separate locker rooms. The pit of Ino's stomach was churning unpleasantly as she quickly spun her combination into her lock, then proceeded to strip, shoving the discarded clothes in her locker.

She wasn't nervous around girls. Ino was pretty strong. She could usually hold her own against the odd female that tried to attack her. Slipping on the navy suit, quickly, Ino tried to clear her mind. _Everything is going to be okay. _She told her self over and over again, in her head.

"Whoa, Ino-san! I had _no_ idea you had such a nice body." Ino whipped around and slammed into her locker. Tenshitenna was looking at her smiling thoughtfully. The blonde glanced down at her body; the suit was hugging her curves gently and accentuated her narrow waist, beautifully. Right… she did have a body.

"Erm… thanks?" Ino replied cautiously grabbing her right bruised wrist and massaging it gently. The appendage had slammed into the metal of her locker when she had backed up.

Tenten nodded sweetly and then turned back around to place her own clothes neatly in her own locker. Though the brunette was a cheerleader, Tenten had never really taken on the bitchy attitude that usually went along with the status. She was generally pleasant, though _highly _competitive. Ino liked her well enough, and didn't mind the fact that they were usually paired up as partners during P.E.

Ino released her hair from its messy bun and raked her fingers through the long strands. She didn't want her hair to be a tangled mess when she got out of the pool—chlorine and her hair usually didn't mix well—then, she pulled her sheet of platinum into a high ponytail. Before, her messy bun had covered up the hickeys and bruises that were left on her neck from… _then_, but now, though the discoloration was barely visible against her skin, the markings were showing for the rest of her class to see. Perhaps they weren't going to be staring at her too much. The blonde swallowed and picked up her towel wrapping it around her body tightly. Great. Why swimming? _Why swimming! ?_

Tenten was waiting for the blonde to finish getting ready and once Ino decided that she was as covered up as she could be (in the current situation), the two walked into the main gym together. "You don't need that towel, you know. You're very beautiful Ino-san. I'm sure the guys here would love to know that the girl they harass everyday is actually hot. I don't think _Neji _even knew, and you're the best friend of his cousin! He said you've been over to her house countless times." Tenten smiled at the blonde, which Ino returned nervously. Yes, Ino had been over to Hinata's house a lot, and yes, Neji was usually there. Despite their friendship, Ino never dressed prettily for her visits to Hinata's.

Neji (who happened to be Hinata's cousin—though most had no idea since he had been popular and Hinata was not) was Tenten's current boyfriend. He had graduated last year, but the distance had not stopped them from dating. Ino found Neji tolerable. She didn't like him much, but she didn't hate him either. He was pretty cold to his younger cousin, for reasons unknown to her, but since Hinata didn't seem put off by his attitude, Ino did not say anything. Neji and Tenten made a cute couple however, and she was happy for the cheerleader's… well… happiness.

Ino pulled the towel tighter around her body and was surprised to see that none of the other girls in her class were self-conscious about wearing the suit. Hell, they were strutting what they had, and teasing the males lightheartedly. Ino frowned. Weren't they mature?

Gai clapped his hands twice, to get the students' attention, and once they were all looking at their coach, he led the group to the indoor pool (conveniently located in the next room). "Alright! Be youthful! Ladies first, gentlemen." Gai turned to the female portion of the class. "Girls, in groups of eight,"—there were 15 female students—"I want you to swim five laps…youthfully!" He turned toward the male students in the class. "Guys," He snickered at his own bad pun. "Run five laps around the pool, then switch out… girls running, guys swimming. Got it?" When the class gave a consecutive nod, Gai gave a daring smile accompanied by a thumbs-up sign.

"First girls up: Aichi, Haruno, Ito, Kimura, Maeda, Sabaku, Sasaki, and Yamanaka." Crap. Ino swallowed and bitterly removed her towel tossing it onto growing pile created by the other girls. The blonde took her spot next to Aki Sasaki. Ignoring the whispers behind her was not the easiest thing to do. She bit her tongue.

"Check it out, Yamanaka's got tits."

_Yes, I'm a female, you idiot. Naturally I'd have breasts._

"Ow! Man, did you know she looked like _that_? I'm gonna ask her out after class."

_Shut up. The only reason you'd care now is because you think I'm hot._

"She's got an ass, too."

_Immature pricks._

"Starting positions ladies." Gai said with a smile. Sakura had taken to glaring at Ino, but turned to face front at Gai's command. "Begin!" And Ino dove into the water letting the cool liquid wash over her. Despite the clarity of the water, the Yamanaka felt much less exposed under the surface… Perhaps it was the pressure.

Throughout entire period, Ino's thoughts were preoccupied with the males in her class. She wanted them to stop staring at her, she wanted them to stop talking about her, she wanted to hide behind her towel again. Once finished with her five laps, Ino dried off, and took off at a sprint. _Run. Who cares where the hell your running as long as you run. They're not watching you anymore. Calm down, Ino. Nothing's going to happen. Gai-sensei is here. They can't do anything._

It seemed like hours had passed when the bell finally rang. Ino quickly found her towel and pulled it around her body. Finally she was covered. She was safe. Or so the blonde had thought. Some of the males in her class began to approach, making Ino's eyes widen; she took a step back. Crap. No. She wasn't going to talk to males looking like this. She had to get out of there. It was not going to happen again. Not now. Not at _school. _Turning and dashing into the girl's locker room, Ino found, and leaned against, the cool metal of her locker. Thank goodness males weren't allowed in. The blonde let out a soft sigh of relief and began to run her fingers through her hair. As predicted, the chlorine had murdered it. With a frown, Ino pulled her platinum sheet out of a purple scrunchie, and then flipped her hair upside down. After shaking loose any remaining water, she began to towel it off lightly. "Ino-san? Are you in here?"

"Yeah. Back here, what is it Tenten?" Ino responded, her head still flipped upside down.

"Oh, I thought you'd be in here." Ino saw a pair of feet in front of her face and she flipped her head back up still toweling. "You left before Gai-sensei could announce clean-up crew. You're on it." Lovely. Didn't that make her day? The chlorine was going to dry in her hair while she spent the next hour mopping floors. And then it was going to take another half hour to get home… which would just make it worse. With a sigh, Ino pulled her scrubs, and black jacket, on over the still damp suit. Then she exited the locker room and turned to look for her mop…

- : - : - : -

It was official now: her Mondays were cursed! Not only was it her turn to clean, but the rest of the clean-up crew had decided to bail… leaving her alone with all of the work. Ino had spent the past two hours cleaning—by herself—and was now in an incredibly bad mood because of it. The irritated blonde pushed the soggy mop across the gym floor, sourly… at least she was almost through. And after a couple more swabs, she wrung out the damp mop and dragged the cleaning supplies back to the storage closet. Shower. She needed to shower. Two hours, it had been. Her hair was screaming at her to get rid of the chlorine.

Ino looked around. The gym was empty. The locker rooms? For all she knew, sports had yet to start. They should be empty, too. Ino pushed open the door, gingerly. "Hello?" She called. "Anyone in here? I'm gonna lock up…" Yeah, that was a lie. She wasn't going to lock up, but if someone were in there, they'd come out in fear of getting locked in. She waited a moment. No reply. Okay, it looked clear enough.

Ino walked into the changing rooms and went back to her locker. After spinning in her combination, she pulled out her towel and headed to the showering stalls in the back. The blonde tucked herself into one of the stalls and stripped out of her clothes. She put the damp garments on the stool outside her stall and hung her towel on the hook across from her showering location. Finally. Peace and quiet. Ino turned the nozzle and a spray of water shot down from above her.

It was _freezing_; Ino tensed as her body protested against the temperature. Quickly, shower quickly. She shampooed her hair, freed it of the terror named chlorine, and rinsed it. She'd take a longer, warmer, better shower when she got home, but Ino supposed this worked for now. The Yamanaka turned off the stream of water and unlocked her stall door, opening it a crack. She poked her head and arm out attempting to grab her towel when she realized something. Where the hell was her towel? And why the fuck were her clothes missing! ? Shit. Shit. Shit. No. No. This wasn't happening.

Wait… what was that? Was that giggling? "Temari that was brilliant!" The words were muffled (the sound probably came from the front of the locker room) but Ino caught them. _Temari_. "Get the rest of her clothes." More giggling.

"Shh!"

Ino's blue eyes widened. Shit. No. Shit. She felt like crying. What the hell was she going to do?

- : - : - : -

Giggling was coming from the opposite end of the hall. Shit girls. And he'd just gotten away from them, too. What the hell was he still doing at school? Shikamaru groaned and considered running in the opposite direction but sighed and decided against it. It was too troublesome. He really didn't feel like exerting physical energy at the moment. The giggling was getting louder and soon it was accompanied by words: "Temari—" Oh thank the heavens it wasn't some deranged fan. "That was so priceless! I wish I could have seen her face!"

There was more giggling. "So do I. I told you there were other ways to piss her off. You don't have to attack the innocent."

"Right, Temari. 'Cause you're such a saint." More giggling.

"Well, you know—OH!" The two girls rounded the corner and the giggling stopped immediately. As suspected, Temari and Sakura were standing at the opposite end of the hallway. Shikamaru eyed the girls curiously, his brows furrowed in soft, contemplative thought. Were they just in the gym? "Shikamaru-kun!" Temari began brightening up. "I thought you'd gone home. Did you miss your ride or something? Do you need a ride home?" She asked running a hand through her bangs with a small smile.

He glanced between the two and then spoke, "No, thank you, Temari-san. I'm sort of busy at the moment…" No he wasn't… he just wasn't in the mood for talking. "If it's not too much trouble, I'll see you tomorrow?"

The dirty-blonde smiled and nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow." She said. The two passed Shikamaru in silence and continued down the hall. They began whispering back and forth, but in low tones so that Shikamaru couldn't make out what was being said.

The two females turned the corner again and Shikamaru looked from where they'd come. Damn his curiosity. _What a drag._ And then Shikamaru made his way towards the gym. Now what had they been doing in the gym? He pulled open a heavy oak door and looked around. The floor was glistening, it looked wet, but other than that, nothing out of the ordinary stood out. Was there even anyone in here? "What a drag." He muttered turning to leave, and that's when he saw it. A black jacket sitting on the edge of the bleachers. What the hell was this doing here? He picked up his coat, and, from inside the folds, a wide assortment of clothes fell out... including a towel, a bra, and pair of underwear. Shikamaru turned red.

It didn't take someone with an IQ over 200 to know what this meant. Crap. She was in the locker room. She had to be. He picked up the clothes that had fallen on the ground and wrapped them back up in his coat, then, he turned towards the girl's changing room. "Hello? Um..." And then it occurred to him, that he didn't actually know the blonde's name. "Hello?" He repeated feeling rather stupid.

Ino's stomach clenched. Was that a voice? There was someone else in the locker room? And it sounded like a _guy_. The blonde sprinted into one of the toilet stalls. She had been out looking for a towel and now felt like slapping herself for being so stupid. But then again, why the hell was there a _guy_ in the _girl's_ locker room! ? Ino swallowed and got on the toilet seat, picking her feet up off the ground so he couldn't see any evidence that a person was inside.

"I know you're in here. I found your clothes."

Ino still didn't respond. She swallowed again and huddled into a naked ball but tried not to move anymore.

"Hey, I'm coming in the stall area, okay? Erm… If you're not in a stall… you might want to…" Shikamaru turned the corner feeling slightly frustrated that the blonde wasn't responding. But then again, she had nearly been raped last night, so it made sense. "I'm not going to hurt you." The bassist said slowly as he began knocking on the stall doors. "I just want to help." Then something occurred to him. What if she wasn't saying anything because—"You're not hurt are you?"

Why did that sound so familiar? Ino swallowed and began shaking. He was knocking on the stalls, now. She debated whether or not she should say anything. Maybe he did just want to help. No. Who the fuck was she trying to fool? He was a guy. A _guy. _From her experience… no the outcome was not going to be pretty. The knocking was right next to her stall, and then… a knock on her stall—"No, don't." She said softly and then slapped a hand over her mouth. Fuck.

There she was. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you," Shikamaru said from the other side of the door. "I have your clothes. Erm… here I'll pass them under." He slipped the wadded ball of clothes under the bottom of the stall. She wasn't taking them.

Ino watched as her clothes emerged from underneath her stall. What if when she went to grab her clothes, he grabbed onto her arm and pulled her under the door? Ino withdrew eyeing the temptation that was her clothes. "Come on, take them. I'm not going to hurt you." Ino swallowed and stepped down from the toilet gingerly.

There were feet. She was coming… good. Troublesome chick. The clothes were ripped from his hand and then the presence retreated to the back of the stall. What'd she think he was going to do? Pull her under the door?

It was all there, thank goodness. Ino used the towel to dry off quickly and without delaying much longer slipped into her clothes. She didn't hear him leave, was he still out there? "Hey are you done changing? I want to ask you something." Yes. Yes he was.

"What?" Ino said quietly through the stall.

He sighed dramatically. " You won't be able to answer my question unless you're looking at me."

Ino swallowed. Should she trust him? He did bring her her clothes. Ino glared at the door for a couple more seconds and then decided she owed the guy at least an answer. One answer. "I'll give you one answer. Get away form the door."

Shikamaru stepped away from the stall. He heard a metallic click and the metal door opened hesitantly. The blonde was standing there, arms crossed, looking frightened as hell, and standing as far away from him as she could. Her eyes widened.

Shikamaru Nara? He was _Shikamaru Nara?_ Ino took a step back extremely surprised. Her breathing rate increased and she took another step back, only then remembering what she had promised. "Well?" she squeaked.

Shikamaru surveyed the before asking his question. "Do you know who I am?"

What kind of a question was that? Of course she knew who he was! "Nara, Shikamaru, lyricist and bassist for The Revoked." Ino deadpanned.

That much was obvious. Shit. He should have phrased the question better. Shikamaru looked at her tentatively. "Anything else?"

What? Ino looked him up and down. What else was there?

Shikamaru glanced at the blonde. Either she knew and didn't want to say anything, or she didn't know. Fuck it. He still didn't know! Did she know or didn't she?

There was a long period of awkward silence (where the two were doing nothing besides staring at the other) and then: "Thank you." Ino spoke softly huddling inside his jacket.

He looked at her curiously, then, the Nara turned to leave Ino... again. Once his back was towards her, he smiled before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away. He muttered something under his breath, "Troublesome."

* * *

**A/N: Unfortuantely I have some bad news... no I am not discontinuing this story but the updates are going to be coming at a much slower pace than before. I have a crapload going on at school and unfortunately it is swallowing up all of my time so that I have no time to devote to writing D: So please stick with me!**


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: Let's face it: I am never going to own, Naruto. NEVER! T-T (Naruto © Kishimoto)**

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CH 5

Ino turned red. Good Lord! That was possibly the single most mortifying moment of her life. Ino screwed her eyes shut tight and slid down the stall door, until she was sitting, rather uncomfortably on the tile—the nasty probably-not-mopped-in-weeks tile. Furrowing her brows, the Yamanaka tried to stop the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks._ Deep breaths, _she told herself between shallow gasps. Struggling to actually take heed of the orders, Ino discarded the command and closed her eyes in defeat. With a rather pitiful sigh, Ino stood slowly and turned to exit the stall area. She made her way to the lockers and located her own quickly, only to, seconds later, spin in her combination with much more malice than she ought to have. After the locker door creaked open, Ino wasted no time in grabbing her backpack and slamming the bit of metal back closed. Yes. Mondays _sucked_.

Another sigh. Then, with one last glare at the metal door of her locker, which was still shaking in its frame, as a result of being shut so forcefully, she left the offending locker room. _Cheerleaders—stupid—bitchy—uh! _The blonde glared at the concrete below her feet and walked down the familiar path to her house. Why? Of all people… just why exactly did it have to be _Shikamaru Nara_? A blush returned to her cheeks but Ino fought it down, futilely. She needed to cool her head, and going home to a loud set of parents was not likely to soothe her frazzled nerves. Unfortunately, walking into a quiet empty house was not an option—since her mother did not work, and her father was likely to be home for his two o'clock lunch break (Inoichi had chosen two o'clock precisely for the chance that he might see his daughter come home from school).

Despite the fact that Ino loved her parents—a lot—that didn't mean she couldn't help but occasionally desire a break from their company. Honestly, you can only take so much of parents before you literally explode. So… no. Going home was not a choice. And where exactly did that leave her, now? She refused to return to her house, school would mean turning back around (and she didn't particularly have a reason to go back anyways), and the park? Ino kicked a wayward rock, in slight frustration. She stopped walking. Hmm... The park. Truthfully, it wasn't a bad idea. Chewing over the option a while longer, Ino eventually decided that she'd just have to settle.

With a glance up from the gravel, Ino modified her course to one towards Hidden Leaves Park. Once she spied the familiar black swings, Ino smiled gently and strode over to them. These bits of plastic had often been her comfort when she was harassed at school, or by… other people she'd rather not mention, and she had willed away many hours swinging on them, back and forth.

Usually, Ino started off swinging. The initial rush of air past her face, was enough to make her forget, but after the moments passed, and her haunting thoughts returned, the blonde turned to books to keep her feelings at bay. Reading was her escape. These bound slips of paper were the only material objects that would ever enable her an occasional lapse from the harshness of reality.

Ino dismissed her thoughts with a rough shake of her head, and took a seat on the swing closest to her. Grabbing onto the metal chain, which held the plastic "bench" up, Ino bowed her head, closed her eyes, and began to swing. Her breaths came evenly—deeply—slowly, as the crisp autumn air stung her face. And, after a minute or two of blissful silence (filled with naught but swinging), the Yamanaka stopped, unzipped her book bag, and pulled out_ The Dragon's Bride_—her current indulgence.

- : - : -: -

The blonde (Shikamaru had taken to calling her that as he still did not know her name) was an odd woman. What on earth had she done to get on Sakura and Temari's bad side? Shikamaru frowned as the answer, once again, eluded him. It wasn't often that something could stump him. Nor was it often that he stuck with anything long enough to _be_ stumped by something. After throwing his head back, and emitting a long, exasperated sigh, the bassist shoved his hands into his pockets.

But then again, Sakura—though he hadn't known her long—never was very… genuine. But Temari? Surely, she was above juvenile pranks. Shikamaru frowned and sighed again, unlocking the front door to The Revoked's flat. He walked in and glanced around. As expected, it was already inhabited…

Shino was lounging on the couch, flipping through television channels, and watching the colors flash by with each click. The other three—Kiba, Naruto, and Sasuke—were chatting heatedly over the kitchen counter. A steaming bowl of ramen sat in front of Naruto, while Sasuke had a mug of herbal tea (to soothe his vocals), and Kiba was munching on the open bag of Doritos sitting on the countertop.

Shikamaru didn't announce his presence upon entry. Instead, he retreated into his room, to change into a pair of comfortable sweats and a t-shirt (just because he was a rock star didn't mean he liked to dress like one; the bassist much preferred comfort to style). Shikamaru returned to the kitchen where he found Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba still talking.

"Lighten up, Teme," began Naruto through a mouthful of noodles. "School wasn't all that bad."

"You're fucking shitting me."

"He shits you not. The only reason you're in a sour mood is because the pink cheerleader was all over you."

"Shut up, Inuzuka."

"Aw… that's a terrible thank you. You know, I could have said 'all up in your grill,' but you haven't got any, so that would be inaccurate, and I know how much of a perfectionist you are. But I'll humor you—since you're so adamant." Kiba cleared his throat for emphasis. "The only reason you're in a sour mood is because the pink cheerleader was all up in your grill."

"_Shut up, Inuzuka,_" Sasuke warned again.

The brunette shrugged. "I only speak the truth."

"Tch. Right," The raven scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Kiba gave a playful glare and spoke again, "What? Really! I'm sure if some round-assed, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, reserved, genuine, funny chick was hanging off your arm, you'd have no complaints." Sasuke had nothing to say to this, and instead sipped his tea through pursed lips.

"That is your type, Teme." Naruto added for good measure as he slurped up some more noodles, noisily.

At the unnecessary comment, Sasuke decided it best to whack the blonde over the head with his fist. "Shut up, Dobe." The force of the hit sent Naruto's face flying into his ramen bowl, successfully spilling the broth all over the counter.

Naruto pulled his head out of the bowl looking livid. And that was the precise moment Shikamaru had chosen to enter the conversation. "Who were you just talking about?"

"No one in particular… just Sasuke's taste in women. Pretty good if I do say so myself," Kiba answered with a light smirk. Sasuke scowled, disgruntled, and returned to sipping his beverage. Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke and excused himself to go find some paper towels. Shikamaru did nothing but raise an eyebrow at the comment and take a seat on one of the leather-topped bar stools.

Sasuke's taste in women? Shikamaru was pretty damn sure that he and the young Uchiha had similar tastes. Really. Any guy who wouldn't go after a girl like that had to be an idiot. And then, for some odd reason, Shikamaru found his thoughts straying back to a blonde… two blondes to be precise. Temari and… the other one—he really had to figure out that girl's name; it was beginning to bug the crap out of him.

"Nara, have you been working on anything recently?" Sasuke asked looking up at the male across from him. It was obvious the singer was desperate for a topic change, but he was not so desperate that he had fallen to a point where he dropped all register and took to pleading. The Uchiha kept his signature stoic expression throughout his question. Typical.

Shikamaru shrugged and put his head down on the table.

"What'd you expect, Sasuke? Shikamaru's as lazy as he's ever been." Kiba said licking what remained of the cheese powder (from the Doritos) off of his fingers.

This was true, but Shikamaru countered anyways, "Meh, I just haven't gotten inspired, recently."

"Recently? It's been 3 months… just what exactly do you need to be inspired?" Naruto asked, back with the paper towels.

"A chick?" Kiba offered. Shikamaru looked up on that note; he was curious about his reasoning. "Don't look at me like that, Shikamaru. You should know better than anyone that your inspiration only comes when you're worried about someone besides yourself."

Hmm… But by that logic, why wasn't he inspired to write at the moment? His thoughts had been incredibly distracted lately, by the blondes. It was insane. Literally. How could two girls have taken up nearly every spare moment his mind had to offer?

"_So wait, you're saying we just need to hook him up with a girl and he'll write again?"_

But he hadn't known either of them for very long. He was interested in Temari because of her bravado but as for the other girl? He wasn't even sure he was interested in her at all. At least not in the same way he was with Temari. The bassist figured it had something to do with the fact that Temari flaunted her sexuality, while the other—well—didn't. Even if he really didn't care what women looked like, Shikamaru was a _teenage male_. And that meant that he couldn't help but be more attracted to a girl who wore a skimpy cheer uniform, over a girl in sweats. Because of this, Temari made up most of his thoughts of lust, while the other blonde harbored most of his intellectual thoughts. Or at least that's what he thought. Ah fuck it. He was confused as hell.

"_It's not as easy as that, Dobe. It can't just be some random chick you pick up off the street. They have to have connection… or else his writing will be crap."_

"_I knew that, Teme!"_

That other girl was odd. First off, how could she be so different from the time when they first met and now? They dressed completely different. The first blonde was vulnerable but with confidence in her voice, the second hardly noticeable and soft-spoken. Then again they weren't polar opposites, either. He did connect the same fire he had seen, when she was unwilling for him to touch her, to the fire he saw, when she was standing up for her friend. They were the same girl on the inside, but that didn't change the fact that they were so… _different_.

Ah, his head hurt. Why the hell was he so infatuated with her—them? They were just women for crying out loud! Shikamaru pressed his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Shit. He had to stop thinking about the blondes. There was no way this could possibly be healthy.

He had to clear his head. How? The answer came almost immediately and Shikamaru almost slapped himself for being so stupid. Clouds. It was the one thing that always helped him straighten out the haphazard thoughts running through his hurricane of a mind. He needed to go watch clouds. Unrecognized. Somewhere he could—

"I'm going out." Shikamaru stated flatly, not wishing to work out the technicalities of his plan. The rest of the group looked at him, slightly startled by his sudden input, but then generally dispersed into a fit of nods and shrugs. Shikamaru said nothing else, but grabbed his hat, glasses, and keys from the coffee table before exiting the flat.

The initial journey out of his apartment had been incredibly uneventful… and it didn't help his "mind troubles" much. He made his way down a sidewalk, walking nowhere in particular, with his hands shoved in his pockets.

He could have sworn the blonde was a rich priss upon their first meeting, but now? He wasn't so sure. Perhaps she had rented the kimono and she was at an expensive-ass restaurant with a bastard because she… And that was where he got stuck. Why the hell had she been there? Everything about her was puzzling. From the way she dressed to the way she acted.

_Why _was he doing this to himself? The whole reason for getting out of the house was to clear his head. She was _just_ a girl! A girl that was probably as fake as the rest of them. A girl who was looking for nothing more but status and money. Shikamaru frowned. This was not working. He needed clouds. He needed them _now_.

The bassist looked around. Where was he anyways? Ah, whatever. What did it matter? There was a nice patch of grass over there… by that girl on the swings. Hmm… he was in a park. Wait… no. Fuck! She was stalking him! His expression read that of mild annoyance, but once he quickly thought out what had just happened melted back to indifference. Okay, yes the blonde was here, but it would make more sense that he was the one stalking her (seeing as she was here first). He sighed with relief, inwardly. At least she wasn't a crazy stalker fan.

Shikamaru blinked slowly and surveyed her. Her hair was tied back in a high-ponytail, platinum bangs framing her face softly. She was sitting on the swings, as opposed to actually swinging, and looked to be… reading? He blinked again and continued to watch her.

The girl's face suddenly read joy. She blushed lightly, a soft smile spreading across her face as she turned a page, gently. For some reason, he had never pegged her as a book person. What was she reading anyways? Scratch that. What was her name? Her name! Jeez he had to know, his damned curiosity was killing him.

Shikamaru took a couple steps closer, and then to his amazement, he somehow ended up stopping right beside her. Shit. Too close. The blonde's smile faltered as his shadow cast over the page. She glanced up and eyed him, curiously. The blonde was analyzing him… like she was trying to pinpoint where exactly she had seen him before. The look was slightly unnerving but the blonde didn't speak.

Well this was awkward. Why again did he choose to come over here? Right. He wanted to know her name. But then again flat out asking her name would possibly scare her off. But the silence was beginning to intimidate him, so he chose to break the growing awkwardness… He took a seat on the swing beside her, and then spoke: "I see you're wearing my jacket."

- : - : - : -

A shadow loomed over Ino's page making the blonde frown lightly. Someone was blocking her light. Jeez now? Right when the spell had caused the girl to—she frowned again. Man, that was annoying. Whoever was standing in her sunlight, really should have taken the fact that she was reading into account, and went to go stand somewhere else. Ino looked up, fully intending to tell the person off, when she froze. It was a guy.

Her instinctive reaction was to stand, pack up her things, and get the hell home… but something about him seemed familiar. _Really_ familiar. And because of the familiarity, she didn't feel the need to run.

Instead, Ino frowned and looked him up and down. He was wearing dark glasses, a hat, and—oh hell. The alley yesterday. It couldn't be. She stared at him. Albeit it was not the most respectful thing to do, but she still stared. The man moved out of her light and took a seat on the swing beside her. She followed his movements with her gaze. How did he—no. Why was he—no. When did he—no. Her expression read a mild form of disbelief. It couldn't be.

"I see you're wearing my jacket."

Oh shit it was.

Ino sprang to her feet, her book landing with a "thud" in the sand beneath her feet. Blue eyes widened, as her expression melted into one of embarrassment and nervousness. "I'm so sorry. I—er…" She clamped her lips shut and began tugging the jacket off, her cheeks burning. She swallowed nervously one arm freed of the dark material as she took a step back.

The man's expression didn't change. Stoic and curious. He sighed as Ino began to tug her arm out of the other sleeve. "Troublesome woman," he muttered.

"I beg your pardon?" Ino asked, alarmed; she was now holding out the jacket to him, scared, though she had no idea where the fear derived from. The Yamanaka shivered slightly as her bare arms sprang up with goose bumps.

"I don't need it." He amended a little louder. He glanced at the blonde. She shivered again. "You're cold. You can have it."

Ino blushed and shuffled her feet, she eyed him nervously before slipping the coat back on. He watched her with that same curiosity, making Ino more uncomfortable. The Yamanaka crossed her arms in attempt to create a barrier between herself and his gaze. It wasn't working, so she kicked the sand again awkwardly. What was she supposed to say? Perhaps he was mad at her, from last night, and was looking for an apology for her sharp tongue. Ino swallowed. "Thank you. Not just for the jacket, but for last night… and I'm sorry if I was harsh to you."

That had not been what Shikamaru had wanted to hear. He looked at her a moment longer and tore his gaze away to look up at the clouds. Great. She did know. It was because he was famous. He doubted the platinum-haired girl would have apologized to him had he not been famous. It was more than likely that the only reason for her apology was based on no more than a fangirlish desire to look good in front of him. She was just as fake as the rest of them.

Ino was still standing awkwardly taking the man's silence as a bad sign. He wasn't looking at her, which was an odd experience, but instead studying the sky. Her eyes followed his gaze up. There was nothing there. Well, nothing besides blue sky, the occasional red leaf, and clouds. She frowned. What was he looking at?

Ino glanced down at the guy on the swings and then back up towards the sky. They were in a mutual agreement of silence for a while, before Ino ended their pact. "What's your name?" She asked softly.

And that had certainly not been the question the man had been expecting. His gaze snapped back to her but was no longer stoic. His expression read surprise. What? Was that question bad? Oh crap. She had just been really rude now hadn't she? Ino looked back on all of the etiquette techniques her mother had drilled into her skull since birth (not that she ever paid much attention).

"_Always introduce yourself first, before asking for another's name." Her mother's voice echoed in her head from some memory of a distant etiquette lesson._

True, he didn't look like the type to know fine etiquette but it was not in her best interest to insult him. "I'm sorry? Was that rude—? Erm—I mean… It was rude… I… uh. I—I'm sorry. I should have introduced myself first. I'm Ino Yamanaka." She stumbled over the words that rushed from her mouth. Good lord. She sounded like a bumbling fool. A light blush colored her face. _That_ was certainly not fine etiquette.

How the _hell_ did she not know who he was? Was she faking it? Shikamaru looked from her pink-tinted cheeks to her creased brow. Somehow, she didn't look like she was. The bassist didn't hide his confusion well. And apparently the blonde picked up on it.

"Um… Yamanaka, Ino?" Should she have said her last name first? She couldn't remember what her mother had told her. At his continued silence, Ino swallowed nervously and played with her blonde bangs. Okay, now would be a good time to leave. He was beginning to look at her like she was an idiot. "Ern… Thank you—again. I—uh…" She bent down to pick up her book. Her slender fingers clasped around the paper back binding and she picked it up, brushing the sand off, lightly. "I'll leave now." _Smooth, Ino. _She thought as she went to grab her backpack.

"Shiro Nakamura."

Ino stopped, and turned to look at the man. "I'm sorry?"

"Shiro Nakamura… It's my name." No it's not! Why the hell was he telling her a fake name…? Shikamaru hid his internal battle well. Perhaps he had lied because he didn't want her to change once she knew he was famous. The blonde was very interesting. He wanted to know her for who she was. He didn't want to meet another façade. Besides, Ino—he knew her name, finally—wasn't likely to talk to him much if she knew who he really was. Shikamaru looked at the girl. She had visibly relaxed and was beginning to walk back towards the swings, hesitantly.

Ino cast him a nervous glance and paused slightly before retaking her seat. They sat like that… in silence, for a while, before Ino looked up at the sky. "What were you looking at, Nakamura-san?" she asked, slowly.

Shikamaru didn't respond immediately. Instead he followed her gaze to look at the sky once again. For a second, Ino thought he wasn't going to answer, but he defied her expectations once again. "Clouds." He said simply.

Ino glanced back at Shikamaru. "Why do you watch the clouds?"

He sighed, "Because."

* * *

**A/N: AHHH! THE CHEESE! IT BURNS! But it's also oh so tasty. Yay! More ShikaIno action! But too bad he lied to her. She'll never know who he really is! Just kidding. **

**AND I have another request (points towards the sky dramatically). If I'm boring you or you have some tips or ideas for the story… please tell me! I want this story to be something you look forward to reading… That is my goal as a writer after all (:**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I am sorry that I officially suck as keeping female characters IC. Males are much easier to work with (because I pay more attention to males than I do females). **

**Disclaimer: Every time someone says they own something (but they really don't) a puppy dies. Save the puppies, I don't own Naruto [© Kishimoto]**

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CH 6

It had been two weeks. Two weeks since Ino and Shikamaru had "first" met at the park; but their meetings did not stop at one. Throughout those fateful weeks, the two happened upon each other many times. At first, their encounters had been purely coincidental.

As her routine stated, Ino would—everyday after school—pack up, take down her hair, rake her fingers through the long strands, and make her way to the swings at Hidden Leaves Park (book in hand). As for Shikamaru, the bassist had taken to a new after school habit of returning to his flat, changing into more comfortable clothes, and then retreating to the park in order to watch clouds (he had hoped that clearing his head and watching clouds would inspire him write; his band mates were getting increasingly annoyed with the fact he had still yet to write, and Shikamaru found their daily nagging troublesome).

Their second meeting was extremely awkward. Shikamaru had not expected Ino to return to that park (much less to the same exact spot where he found her before) and could not decide whether he was happy or upset by her presence. Ino, in return, had not been anticipating "Shiro's" arrival, either. Upon seeing the other, the uneasiness between the two grew. They spoke very little and sat uncomfortably—Ino did nothing but read her book and Shikamaru only stared at the sky.

After time, however, by some random fluke of fate, Ino and Shikamaru began to look forward to their park meetings. They got over the initial awkwardness and began to communicate, hesitantly at first, but eventually the wall, which had been forged between the two, began to weaken.

Today was another god-forsaken Monday (yes, it had rolled back around, much to the discontentment of teenagers across the world). Oddly, Ino found that she did not dread the day as much as she normally would have. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she had something to look forward to after 7 hours of hell. She shrugged the thought off and began her morning custom of showering, changing, grabbing her black jacket, and heading into the kitchen to find a piece of toast and peanut butter waiting for her. Ino picked up the piece of fried bread, pecked her mother on the cheek, and continued on her way to school.

As for Shikamaru, the surly bassist was _not _looking forward to school in the slightest. Apparently, high school girls found it necessary to scream their admiration at him in hopes of getting asked out. Women were extremely troublesome, and this particular group was not the brightest of the bunch. But just maybe, if he resigned himself into dating one of them, the others would leave him be. It was wishful thinking but entirely worthy of a shot.

At least his reasoning was understandable. If Shikamaru could find a girl who didn't irritate him (much) and that girl could be particularly intimidating (when needed), his plan should succeed. After less than a moment of pondering which girl he should choose, the solution became quite obvious: Temari.

The blonde was tolerable, semi-sweet, threatening (on occasion), and attractive. Temari would definitely not be the worst person he could choose. At least both Shikamaru and Temari got along nicely enough. However, he'd never thought of her in a particularly romantic way. Yes, he would not deny she was sexy (and he had had some slightly M rated thoughts about her), but Shikamaru had pegged that down to nothing more than his teenage hormones. Ah who gave a fuck? Beggars can't be choosers right? Right. And so, based on that logic, Shikamaru chose to not be picky (not that he really ever was—it was too much trouble to argue about anything for too long), suck it up, and ask the cheerleader out on for dinner that Sunday night.

Temari seemed to be ecstatic when she accepted his invitation, and she wasted no time in getting ready for their date. It wasn't, by any means, a bad date, but Shikamaru, for whatever reason, got the impression that Temari wasn't actually dating him for… well… him. _That_ was what sucked about being famous. Everyone you talked to turned into a popularity-seeking monster who really only wanted to have connections with you in order to impress others. But this would likely be the case with whomever he decided to date, so he chose to stick with Temari. Fame was a bitch. And unfortunately it was a bitch he'd have to deal with for the rest of his life. Fuck.

With a groan, Shikamaru pulled himself through his morning tasks and, after he completed them, dragged his lazy ass out to their limousine. The rest of his band mates, who had been waiting "patiently" for him for the last ten minutes, wore scowls (with the possible exception of Shino—but then again, half of Shino's face was covered… so he didn't really count). Yes, they were pissed… but it was too early in the morning for Shikamaru to actually care. After a few heated verbal exchanges, none of which Shikamaru could recall, the five piled into their shiny black vehicle. At seven o'clock, the limousine arrived and was immediately surrounded by a hoard of girls. But it was expected. The greeting had happened every day since their arrival—and was morphing rapidly into nothing short of hell (even Kiba and Naruto were getting sick of the welcoming)—so the band members treated the attention with malice.

Kiba kicked open their door and was the first to strike out into the swarm of their adoring public. Naruto was second, then Shino, Shikamaru, and lastly Sasuke. And, as Sasuke exited the car, a pink streak, instantaneously, pushed its way through the fans. It had now found itself latched firmly onto the arm of a rather annoyed singer. "Morning Sakura-chan." Naruto said managing to both glare at Sasuke and smile at Sakura simultaneously (how that was possibly will forever boggle the minds of many). Sakura gave him an insincere smile and clutched onto Sasuke's arm tighter.

Sasuke tensed. "Sakura-san," he began lowly.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" She asked pushing her (practically nonexistent) breasts into his arm.

Sasuke flinched at the action; his response came out clipped and cold: "Let go of me."

The pink-haired cheerleader frowned and reluctantly released his arm. She did, nonetheless, remain stubbornly by his side. Shikamaru couldn't help but feel sorry for his band mate. It had been two freakin' weeks already and the girl still had yet to pick up on his clearly-not-interested vibe. But while he was feeling sorry for the Uchiha, he also had to wonder how anybody could possibly be that oblivious. The moment that thought struck him, Shikamaru frowned. Naw… it had to be possible; just look at Naruto.

"Shikamaru-kun."

The bassist turned. He was met with the sight of Temari running up to him and throwing her arms around his neck, a coy smile planted firmly on her face. And then, somehow, they had managed to start kissing in the middle of the courtyard. Shikamaru pushed her off gently, not hiding the light blush spreading across his cheeks, well. "What was—why did you just…?"

Temari merely smiled sweetly again. "It was a thank you." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "For last night." She said, as though that really confirmed anything. Shikamaru shook the comment off in spite of his slight confusion. Okay then. He really wasn't in the mood to spend time analyzing how a female's mind works. Instead, he found his hand working its way around Temari's waist. The two entered the high school courtyard together.

On the other side of the walkway, Ino was rolling her eyes and frowning. Was it really necessary to make-out in the middle of a crowd? Of all things. She watched in mild disgust as Temari began to eat Shikamaru's face. A minute passed, growing daringly close to two... and then the two finally broke appart. No doubt for lack of oxygen or something else along those lines. The Revoked's bassist was turning red while Temari had turned to face the crowd… glowering. Damn! Ino had no idea that Temari was that possessive. The glare had most definitely been a warning to the girls who had been ogling Shikamaru for the past couple of weeks. It was impossible to have deciphered her expression any other way.

Ino watched The Revoked enter the courtyard from the safety of a couple yards away. Despite the brash act on the behalf of the new "it" couple, Ino found her eyes straying towards Sasuke and the head of his fanclub. Urg. Sakura was so annoying... the pink bobble-head. Ino rolled her eyes and looked the cheerleader over before turning her attention to Sasuke. Yes, that Sasuke. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips lightly as her eyes raked over the pleasant piece of eye-candy. She tried to stifle her smile as her glance traveled to his face. Pale blue eyes met coal black.

Ino jumped, her expression dropping quickly and eyes widening. Holy shit! Was he just—? He was looking at her. The young Yamanaka fought down her blush (ineffectively) with a sad attempt to force her eyes towards the concrete beneath her feet. No. He wasn't looking at her. Not really. That look was a coincidence. A coincidence; nothing more. Ino swallowed and began to stabilize her breathing rate. Flying cows, she was a mess. Like a damned fangirl… it was terribly embarrassing. Goodness, she had to be blushing worse than Hinata ever could right now. Ino shook her head lightly, and followed the crowd into the courtyard. Speaking of Hinata, where had she gone off to?

Ino made her way over to the benches, hoping to find her friend sitting on them. Apparently luck was on her side today. She found the little Hyuuga sitting nervously and watching, whom Ino could only assume to be Naruto, from afar. "Like what you're looking at?" She asked with a grin, her eyes lighting up at Hinata's terrified stuttering.

"I-Ino-chan! N-no h-he's—I-I mean, yes h-he's very attrac—err—n-no I mean, I w-wasn't looking at anythi—anyone." There was silence for a moment, aside from the given dispersed chattering amongst the students already in the Konoha's courtyard. Hinata tried to amend her blunder. "Erm… g-good morning Ino-c-chan?"

"Pft—" Was the sum of Ino's attempt at stifling her giggles. Needless to say, the blonde failed miserably. Hinata went red. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Ino apologized lightheartedly (though still smiling). "How was your weekend?" She had changed the topic to make Hinata feel more at ease. She wasn't looking to upset the Hyuuga.

Hinata chewed on the inside of her lower lip and hesitated before answering. "Neji-san came t-to visit."

"Aw, that's nice... I think? You guys _have _been getting along better, since last time, if my memory serves?"

"That's right."

"Well then good. I'm assuming Tenten tagged along, too?"

"Y-yes." Hinata paused before reversing the question. "And y-your weekend Ino-chan?"

Ino smiled and rummaged through her bag. "I just finished _The Dragon's Bride_." She took out the hard back copy and handed it to Hinata. "You always suggest the most interesting books. They're terribly sweet, then you cry your eyes out, and at the very... _very _end, a teeny little happy ending is crammed in there. It was good though. I loved it!" Hinata smiled shyly and took the book back. "Have any other good recommendations in that amazing head of yours?"

Hinata blushed lightly at the compliment. "Erm…" Hinata bit her lip in soft consideration. Her expression, however, became alight when a novel popped into her head. "_Burning Kisses_ is a v-very good book as w-well. I j-just finished it..."

"Great. Since I trust your book judgment with my life, I'll have to check it out." The blonde's mind strayed from books, to the park, and then to Shiro. She felt her stomach clench. Ino had still yet to tell Hinata (or Choji—who was currently in his 0 hour) about Shiro… she had been planning to—perhaps during lunch or something—but she'd never gotten around to it. Perhaps it was the terrible anticipation of having to twist the truth. There was no way she could tell her closest friends how she had really met the man. But then again, she could always leave that part out and just say they saw each other at the park. But no, Hinata would be suspicious... the dark-haired girl knew of Ino's general distaste in men (of course there were a few exceptions like Choji etc.). Ino frowned contemplatively but shook off the thoughts plaguing her mind. She'd just address what she'd say to them when the time arose... _If _the time arose. "So _Burning Kisses,_ huh?"

- : - : - : -

Third hour dragged on forever. Ino was more than happy when the three-beat bell finally rang dismissing them to their next hour. Thank every living, breathing thing that her next hour wasn't nearly as boring as economics. Quite the opposite actually. English was Ino's favorite class (French had to be a close second but English still reigned supreme). The blonde found her seat at the very back of the class, next to Tenten. If she sat anywhere else, Ino felt like she was being watched, and frankly that feeling crept her out. Tenten didn't mind the back of the class either, so it worked out for the best (for the both of them). The rest of their classmates soon filed in, rather noisily and sporadically, eventually taking their seats and waiting for class to begin.

Kurenai-sensei took her place at the front of the class and smacked her hand on the white board. The students fell silent and Kurenai began to lecture. They were supposed to be starting their poetry segment today, and Ino would be lying if she said she wasn't exited. She couldn't deny the fact that she was, indeed, a closet poet. "As you know," Kurenai began slowly. "We will beginning our poetry unit today. But before we delve into the works of Frost and Poe, I will be assigning a project. A partner project." There was a scattered consensus of cheers among the students.

That is, among _most_ of the students. Ino, however, _loathed _partner work with a burning passion. Aw fuck, she'd just end up doing the project by herself anyways, it was better not to fight the inevitable. "Yes. Yes. Very exciting I know. Settle down. I'll be assigning your partners." And that made the class majority groan. Kurenai-sensei smiled upon receiving her desired effect. "The project is to devise a poem, with your partner, which switches on and off speakers. This will compare and contrast the different personalities of both authors. Just like Frost and Poe. Though their works are incredibly different they do occasionally touch on the same subject: death. However, their voices are so dominant and recognizable that confusing the two is nearly impossible. I am looking for two distinct voices with a strong sense of unity and the assignment will be graded accordingly. You will have one week to work but you will have no class time to complete this project. It will be due this Friday, no exceptions, so use your time wisely."

Aw shit. Ino's mind began to buzz annoyingly; she groaned inwardly. Damn. That definitely meant that she couldn't finish the damned thing on her own. And to top her pain off, Kurenai-sensei was _choosing _their partners? There was only one simple thing she was asking for: Don't let it be a guy. She could put up with Sakura or Temari enough to finish this but a guy Please don't be a guy. Don't be a guy.

"I'll read off your partners."

Please don't be a guy.

"Tsubasa, Tenshitenna* and Sabaku, Temari."

Don't be a guy.

"Takahashi, Sayuri and Aburame, Shino."

Don't be a guy.

"Inuzuka, Kiba and Sato, Kuria."

Don't.

"Uchiha, Sasuke and Uzumaki, Naruto."

Be.

"Haruno, Sakura and Gimei, Sai**."

A.

"Yamanaka, Ino and—"

Guy.

"Nara, Shikamaru."

Ino closed her eyes in defeat. Of course there was no one who would actually mind her pleas. She was going to be stuck with a guy. Great. _And now ladies and gentlemen of the jury, let me testify: the world hates me and now that feeling is mutual, _the blonde thought bitterly as Kurenai finished reading through what remained of the names. Nara Shikamaru? Well she could have definitely been stuck with worse. He did help her out in the locker room that one time, but since then, she hadn't seen or heard much of him. It was too early to tell what his true character was. So far, though, dating Temari was not earning him brownie points in her book. It was likely that his relationship with her meant he was just as into his status as Temari or Sakura was. At least Sasuke didn't give a damn. He blew off Sakura every day and—

"I'll give you five minutes to work out how you will meet with your partner outside of school." Kurenai-sensei spoke suddenly pulling Ino from the midst of her overwhelming thoughts. After Ino thanked her mentally for the interruption, she watched her sensei take a seat in her desk at the front of the class. Damn it all. Ino looked around for her partner, and saw him with his head down on the desk a couple of rows in front of her. She rolled her eyes and pulled herself out of her seat.

"Nara-san?" She said feeling rather annoyed that she had to wake his lazy ass up. "Nara-san." Ino repeated poking him in the shoulder. The sleeping male grumbled something and swatted her hand away. "Get up." She hissed poking him again.

"Whaddyawan?" he asked groggily picking his head up off the table. He looked up at Ino with mild confusion. "Ino?"

"Yamanaka-san." She corrected impulsively. Wait Ino? Why did he know her first name? _How_ did he know her first name? She was a nobody right, and he was famous. Famous people were not supposed to know the first names of nobodies.

"Right. Yamanaka," he said more to himself than anyone else. Ino crossed her arms. He still left out the honorific? Not that it mattered much, but, you know, a little respect is always nice.

Ino frowned and derailed her train of thought. "We were assigned as partners for a project. And we have to work on it outside of school. It's due Friday… but I kind of want to finish it today—you know get it out of the way—if that's okay with you?" Pretty decent summary if she did say so herself. Heck, she even threw in an excuse in favor of finishing the project in a day! Hmmm… Yes. Her summary was _very_ decent.

Shikamaru stared at her for a moment before sighing and flipping his notebook open. It had previously been acting in place of a pillow. "Pen?" he asked rubbing what remained of his nap from his eyes. Ino glanced at him incredulously. He was sitting at a desk with his book bag right next to him, and he was asking her for a pen? Did she look like she had a pen on her? It would be all the way back at her own seat. Ino frowned again. Did this mean he thought that just because he was famous, people would up and do anything for him? He watched her expectantly for a moment making the blonde raise an eyebrow. Was that strike two?

Shikamaru either missed or ignored her actions. "Ah troublesome. Just meet me in the courtyard right after school." Ino studied his face for any signs that he might be joshing her. That was not the sort of thing she felt like dealing with today. Shikamaru met her gaze just as intensely. His brows furrowed as he looked over her face. Ino felt a soft blush threaten to creep over her cheeks. "After school today?" He repeated slowly and rather confused.

"Alright." Ino answered quickly, turning and retreating back to her desk. She let her head lay on the chipboard dejectedly.

"Five minutes is up. Everyone, take your seats," Kurenai said cheerfully. She waited for the class to get settled before beginning her speech. "Now Poe was—"

And those were the last couple of words Ino heard began tuning Kurenai-sensai out. Hmmm... It was now official: French was her favorite class.

* * *

**A/N: Suggestions are most welcome, and as for the love triangles (I got quite a few reviews about adding more of them)… yes, there are **_**lots **_**of love triangles coming up! **

**Well, the TemariShikaIno triangle has already been introduced, and some of you picked up on the ShikaInoSasu triangle… that is going to be coming up soon (I think there are mentions of it throughout the next couple of chapters but it really gets important to the plotline in Chapter 10). And a couple more but I don't want to spoil it all for you guys XP**

**HOWEVER, even through there's going to be all sorts of confusing love junk coming up, **_**this story is going to remain ShikaIno**_**. **

*** I do not know Tenten's last name but Tenshitenna (again my own creation) the "tenshi" means angel so I picked "****Tsubasa"**** which means wings. I thought angel wings fits fine for Tenten. (: No laughing!**

**** Again I do not know Sai's last name either… his real name isn't even Sai so you shouldn't be complaining… Anywho I chose "****Gimei"** **which literally translates to alias. I thought it was fitting**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto © Kishimoto… if I ever say otherwise whack me with a frying pan… OR the song Afterlife © Avenged Sevenfold. You all knew this was coming, don't try to deny it! This is a **_**band **_**fanfiction after all. (: Enjoy!**

* * *

CH 7

Ino could not stop watching the time in her last hour class (despite the fact that her last hour was indeed physical education and it was most inconvenient to keep stealing glances at the large clock mounted on the back wall of the gym). Her class was still doing their swimming segment—and, yes, that meant she was forced to wear those horrid swim uniforms—but luckily most of the boys had given up on trying to get her on a date. She rather liked the change back to solitude. The fact that her male classmates were no longer harassing her made the blonde feel much better about herself. She felt normal…Well, not normal, per se, but more like she had morphed back into the person she was before everyone found out she had breasts. However, in spite of the neglect given so sweetly to her by her classmates, Ino still spared no time in wrapping the standard, coarse towel firmly around herself whenever the chance arose. She was still very conscious of her body, and paranoid about men…

But anyways—back to Ino's surveillance of the time. Whether it was thfat watching the clock made time seem to go by extremely slow, or it was that time was actually going much slower than it ought to have, Ino was extremely relieved when the dismissal bell finally rang out—a cue for all the students to head to the designated locker rooms and change.

Normal coaches would have allowed their students to change _before_ the bell, so that they wouldn't miss their busses or next class, but all those who ever had Gai-sensei as an instructor, knew him as the furthest thing a person could possibly get from "normal." It wasn't in Gai's nature to waste his precious "youthful time" (as he called it) on things as trivial as changing clothes… well, that is, if it could be helped. Since it was a requirement that all students wore P.E. uniforms while in the gym, the loud coach was already forced to sacrifice two of those sacred minutes. Nope, he wasn't going to squander any more of his youthful time on letting them change out of their gym clothes. The absurdity!

Saddly, the inability to change back into regular clothes really sucked if one were so unfortunate to have Gai's class in the _middle_ of the day. He liked his workouts, and particularly hard workouts (where buckets of sweat were involved) were his forte. Sweat equaled smell... and no one really wanted to walk around school smelling like they'd just been catering to a dead body. But then again, on the counter, no one really wanted to be the person _smelling_ that student, either. Needless to say, the dismissal bell was a relief to more than just Ino.

Ino followed Tenten into the girl's locker room and sought out her locker quickly, in spite of the fact that her mind would not stop its pestering about what was to come later that day. Stupid partner project.

The blonde couldn't decide why she was so anxious to meet the Nara, but anxious she was. Perhaps it was the fact she wanted to get this project over and done with as soon as possible, or the fact that she wanted to head to Hidden Leaves Park, sit on the swings, read… and hopefully find Shiro still waiting for her by the time she was finished with this ridiculous poem collaboration. Ino frowned flipping her head upside down and beginning to towel her wet hair. Ever since the incident with the school showers, Ino had cleverly waited until she got home to rinse the chlorine out of her hair no matter how late she was to stay for clean up last week. But today, her hair was damned. She was _not_ showering at school, nor had she even considered showering wherever the Nara and herself were going to work, which meant her hair would have to (once again) wait until she got home—whenever that may be.

Ino flipped her blonde sheet back up and ran her fingers through the damp platinum strands, trying to untangle it the best she could. She had just slipped into her jeans pulled a baggy t-shirt over her head when she heard someone address her. "Ino-san? Is there anything wrong? You've been really quiet today—well, you're quiet everyday, but quieter than usual I guess—and you're making me worried. Should I be worried?" Ino popped her head through the neck hole of the shirt and turned to face Tenten. The brunette cheerleader was standing in front of her dressed in full cheer uniform (there was practice today after school) her own hair pulled into a messy bun atop her head. Ino blinked a couple of times in confusion. Was her contemplativeness really that readable?

The blonde smiled nervously and shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Just have a couple of things on my mind, you know? Nothing out of the ordinary. So, nope. There's no need to be worried." Ino didn't feel weird talking to Tenten. In fact, Tenten was the only cheerleader Ino ever trusted.

Said brunette smiled, a feeling of relief overtaking her features. "That's good; you know you can always come to me if something is bothering you, right?"

Ino merely smiled again and nodded falsely. Yes, she trusted Tenten, but she probably wouldn't come to her to pour out her woes or anything. She probably wouldn't come to anyone for that matter… Ino preferred dealing with her problems herself—she didn't like to know others stressing over her issues.

Tenten studied Ino for a moment, not missing the fakeness of the nod, and just when the senior was about to comment on it, she was cut off by the sound of her cell phone ringing. The cheerleader whipped the phone out of her pocket and glanced at the screen (it was no doubt Neji, judging by the soft, happy blush on her cheeks). Tenten let the phone ring for a moment while she turned back to Ino. She smiled, somewhat knowingly, and repeated herself. "I'm here if you need me, Ino." Then, she flipped open her phone. "Hello? Neji-kun... yeah, I just finished changing… _you got us tickets to what?_... No definitely! I'll blow off cheer for that! Granted you don't mind I'm in uniform… Haha, yeah… wait, what? Where are you?...Haha, I'm coming, I'm coming." Tenten sounded rather contented as she grabbed her bag and hurried out of the locker room.

Ino grinned softly and slipped on her black jacket, before grabbing her book bag. At least Tenten had something to look forward to. As for herself, it was time to meet her doom. The blonde slung her bag over her shoulder and began her trek over to the courtyard.

And that was the precise moment when reason decided to start pelting bullets at her head. Perhaps she wasn't giving the Nara the benefit of the doubt. Even if Ino had always been one who was quick to judge, she shouldn't have been evaluating him just based on what little she knew. After all the only justifiable reason that she was sour with him was the small detail that he was dating Temari. Okay so that small detail was a pretty large one but hell, he _had_ saved her in the locker-room. That should at least count as a cancel or something, right? She made up her mind. Ino would approach this with simplicity. That is, in the generalized sense of the word. She'd just start over. Pretend she'd never met him. Try to see him as a regular teenager, not as a world-famous bassist who was dating one of the girls shared her intense feeling of hate. He was just a teenager—a teenager with crazy hormones and countless messed-up issues, just like her.

Ino sighed, content with her strategy (it would be perfectly acceptable, so long as he kept those crazy hormones in check), and sauntered onto the courtyard. She found her partner lying on a patch of grass in the middle of the square. He was motionless (and for a briefest of moments Ino was terrified that he was dead... but the steady rise and fall of his chest convinced her otherwise). The knowledge of his aliveness made her curious; why wasn't he doing anything?

Ino studied him for movement—his eyes flickered left and right—and then it struck her. He was doing something; he was staring at the sky. Ino furrowed her brows at the familiarity, but then relaxed her features and went over to the bassist. "Nara-san?" She spoke tentatively, leaning over him, successfully blocking the sky from his eye-line.

He shifted his gaze to her eyes, which she locked immediately. They stayed like that for a moment, in a mutual agreement of stillness, until, Ino's still damp hair began to drip on his face. Shikamaru frowned and sat up rubbing the chlorine pool water residue from himself. He was quiet for a while longer, but broke the silence before it reached the point of awkwardness. "I take it you're ready to go, then?"

Ino hesitated, feeling her stomach clench with a recurring sense of foreboding. Where were they going? He wasn't going to take her to some alley and—

Shikamaru seemed to read her thoughts (or he was reading her expression, Ino really couldn't tell) but he answered her unasked question quickly: "We're just gonna go to the park. Nothing to worry about." Ino blinked. Don't worry? That was easy for him to say… what did he have to worry about? Besides his thousands of fans mauling him? Ino scolded herself inwardly. No. She was being hasty with judgments again. Ino sighed and forced a nod. She had to finish this project. She would _not _allow it to get the best of her.

"Erm... Nara-san, we _can _finish this today, right?" She asked as he stood and gathered up his things. Shikamaru glanced at her, his expression unreadable, and then shrugged. _Nice definite answer there, thank you, _she thought bitterly.

Ino opened her mouth to speak just what was on her mind, but hastily closed it again, thinking better of her actions. Shikamaru watched her curiously before turning and walking away from the courtyard and towards the front gate. She was obviously supposed to follow him, not that he made any sort of gesture or sound indicating it—the prick (No! Bad Ino). The blonde arched a slender eyebrow but hitched her own bag further up her shoulder and followed behind him… a good ten feet behind him.

But Shikamaru didn't seem to care, so it was okay. She didn't speak more than she needed to, and allowed herself to be corralled to wherever they were going. _Where are we going? I think he mentioned it? The park? Wait. The park? No. No. No. Why does this trip seem familiar—very familiar? Oh flying muffins! We're going to Hidden Leaves Park—someone up there must really hate me. Really! Why the park? Why did he choose _the park_? If he has large quantities of cash at his disposal, why… _why_ choose the damned park—_this_ park? Any other park would have been fine, but _this_ park?_ She had a hard time sorting out her thoughts. Internal arguments were so confusing… soon more questions arose:

What if Shiro was there? What would he think when he saw her following a famous person? Would he think she was being fake towards him? What if he thought—

No Ino was being silly. She shouldn't care what he thought of her… not at all. Despite her reassurances, Ino still couldn't help but hope that Shiro didn't get the wrong impression were he to see the two of them together.

"Hey, we're here." Shikamaru said, taking a seat at one of the old—heavily splintered—wooden picnic tables. Ino followed slowly unpacking what little she had in her book bag. In this case, two pencils and a fresh sheet of paper. "So… do you have a topic in mind?"

Ino watched him absentmindedly, her brain (still lost in thoughts of Shiro) not registering that the man across from her had asked a question. He repeated himself. "A topic? You know, for the poem?" Oh, right, poem, with him… that was why she was here. Ino shook her head slowly (in lieu of verbal speech) before tearing her eyes away from him and looking around. The park was practically empty. But then again she should have expected that. It was the middle of autumn… and a Monday… why would people want to be at the park across from a noisy high school?

But it wasn't noisy at the moment; it was quiet—really quiet. Ino looked around for some sign of his signature hat and glasses but the sad fact remained… Shiro wasn't around. Ino frowned. Yes, she was glad he wasn't there to witness her working on a project with a famous classmate—though he'd most likely be staring at the sky instead of her (which, she stubbornly admitted, annoyed her)—but that meant he hadn't come to see her today. It disappointed her, slightly.

Shikamaru caught the look. Disappointment? What reason could she possibly have to be disappointed? He studied her for another moment; she was glancing around, obviously looking for someone. Oh. He smiled to himself. That was what it was. Shiro wasn't going to be coming today. He glanced down at the paper before him and pondered what he should write. Ino had said that she wanted to finish the poem today, so whatever, he'd scrape something up to humor her. It was some sick sort of irony. The fact that he could write now but not when he needed _(needed) _to.

He only had to ponder what to write about briefly. He'd figure he'd leave the topic open, something Ino could do anything with. He set to work, his mechanical pencil scratching across the paper. God it felt good to write… that writer's block was a bitch. He was in was such a rut for the longest time. He hated it. He fucking hated it! But now? It was like his pencil couldn't possibly move fast enough.

"Yamanaka-san." He'd remembered to not address her informally, lest he wanted another annoyed verbal correction from the girl in front of him. The blonde jumped and glanced at him slightly ruffled. No way, had she'd been looking for "Shiro" for the entire time he was writing? She was so intriguing.

"Ya—Yes?"

He smiled inwardly and pushed the sheet of dead tree pulp across the table towards Ino. The soft breeze attempted to carry the parchment away, but Ino snatched the paper before the wind could have its way with it. Her eyes scanned over the lines quickly:

_Like walking into a dream  
__So unlike what you've seen  
So unsure but it seems  
_'_cause we've been waiting for you_

She smiled amused. So this was The Revoked's lyricist? It was a pretty verse, yes, but it really had no meaning. It was open, she had free reign here… so why not… test him? Ino could not deny that she was a Revoked fangirl… nor that she knew most of their songs by heart. But, for a chance to actually get into the mind of the guy who wrote those amazing lyrics? It was way too good to pass up. Ino pushed all thoughts of Shiro from her mind went to work quickly. Tough topic… tough topic.

Shikamaru watched her the entire time she spent writing. The blonde looked content to simply be spilling words out onto the paper. Granted he didn't actually know how good those words were but he assured himself that she couldn't be bad. After all, most of the times he'd seen her (as Shiro), she'd always had her nose shoved in the binding of a thick novel. All that reading must have heightened her vocabulary at the very least.

The blonde put down her pencil and slid the paper back over to Shikamaru. He gently grabbed the poem in progress and read over her lines:

_Fallen into this place  
__Just giving you a small taste  
Of your afterlife here so stay  
__You'll be back here soon anyway_

Well, whatever he had been expecting, that certainly wasn't it. She was good. That much was obvious. But the topic she'd chosen? It was so… explorable. He loved it. Not only the subject of an afterlife…but a person falling into that afterlife before their time? This could most certainly go so many different ways. Underneath his masked amazement, however, Shikamaru couldn't fight off a rather entertaining feeling. He somehow got a vague impression that she was testing him. Perhaps it was from the way she sat? Ino was watching him intently, a small smile on the face that rested on the open palm of her right hand.

She was certainly amusing. Shikamaru locked her eyes for a brined moment, before picking up his pencil and scribbling down his response. The contrast in their handwriting was so drastic, his was a scrawl, while hers was tiny, albeit neat and somewhat pushy (if that was possibly), and oddly elegant without being overly so. It reminded him of her, in many different ways.

The next passing of the unfinished poem proceeded in silence, like the first two. Both seemed more intent on the other's written response as opposed to a verbal one. Ino took the paper quickly and read over the lines the Nara had added:

_I see a distant light,  
__But girl this can't be right  
Such a surreal place to see  
__So how did this come to be  
__Arrived too early_

He hadn't missed a beat. She was both impressed and annoyed. He'd picked up on her literal meaning with ease and scraped the surface of her intended symbolism. Their protagonist had crossed over (her interpretation being suicide), but once he arrived, he knew it wasn't his time to enter heaven. Yes, it is beautiful place, and it seems so tempting, but you can't simply cave in to the temptation of giving up. You have to fight… you have to—and then Ino's own pencil began streaking across the page.

Shikamaru wasted no time in taking the paper when she had finished. He was eager. Why was he so damned eager? This was so troublesome! Why could he write with her but not when he needed to? And then Kiba's annoying voice popped into his head. Damnit! Shut up Kiba! Shikamaru pushed the mini-Kiba into a far corner of his mind before it said anything too—nope he was reading now… not thinking about what kiba had said… reading:

_And when I think of all the places I just don't belong  
I've come to grips with life and realize this is going too far_

Suicide. He picked up the meaning almost immediately. It was deep. When you feel like an outcast and you just want to end it all, but then you don't because you realize that ending it, is not the way to make it go away. You have to face it… stand up for yourself, for what you believe in. He locked eyes with Ino again and paused for the briefest moment, wondering… she wasn't going through something like this right? …before he continued writing.

Ino took back the paper and read over his newest contribution; her desire to test him had vanished the second the poem began to delve into deeper waters. She had dealt with issues like this before. Not internally, herself, but one of her friends… and he—she bit back the memories and forced herself to read:

_I don't belong here,  
__We gotta move on dear  
__Escape from this afterlife  
'Cause this time I'm right to move on and on,  
__Far away from here_

It was a different turn. One for the better. The protagonist in the poem realized that death was not the answer. Certainly not giving it to himself, he was desperately trying for another chance at life. Another chance he so desperately needed because he hadn't finished what he was meant to do yet. He hadn't lived his life… there was still left to done whether it dealt with himself or not. Ino closed her eyes for a moment before finishing off the poem (their limit had been reached). Yes, she still had so much more to say. This issue had not been resolved in six simple stanzas, but she _had_ to find a way to end it well. Closure for both the poem, as well as herself. She wanted to be proud of what she had created when this was done… No, that wasn't write. She wanted to be proud of what _they _had created. Ino passed the finished product over to Shikamaru who read over the last couple of lines:

_Got nothing against you  
__And surely I'll miss you  
This place full of peace and light,  
__And I'd hope you might  
Take me back inside when the time is right_

He looked up to catch her pale blue eyes again, but she had gone. She wasn't at the table any longer. Instead she had brought her things over to the swings, to his left, and submerged herself in a book. It was a new book judging by the title: _Burning Kisses. _She was a romantic? Wait that wasn't relevant. Stay on track.

"Yamanaka-san?" Oh goodness, he was turning polite. _She _was turning him polite. He never used honorifics! If Naruto or Kiba got wind of this—Ino cut off his thoughts with her own reply… which wasn't really a reply at all.

In fact, the blonde did not even look of from her book, which annoyed him greatly, but merely answered him with a slightly disinterested: "hm?" She sounded a lot like Sasuke at that moment, which made Shikamaru frown. It didn't suit her. Ino had gone from being all deep and symbolic to a shell. She obviously wasn't in the mood to talk right now.

"I realize what you wrote here is a personal issue for you… but I wanted to ask you something." At her lack of response (troublesome) he continued. "Can I turn this into lyrics for a song?"

And that caught her attention. She looked up slightly startled and held his gaze for a long while. She searched his face for any sign of jest (much like she had done earlier that day) but found none. "Yes." Really? Holy flying fuck. He'd thought, for sure she'd say no… "But don't mention my name." And that confused him… which was not normal. The bassist was not prone to being confused. But Shikamaru nodded anyways (he really shouldn't be complaining) and packed up his things, including the poem (he'd type it up—and create lyrics off of it, once he returned home). The bassist glanced back at Ino; she was still reading and swaying back and forth on one of the swings.

"I'll see you in class, Yamanaka-san."

She said nothing, but continued to swing. It was over, it was finally over. Yes, she was happy with the poem, and it hadn't been as bad as she expected, but she didn't think she could take much more company right now. She wanted to wallow in her thoughts, or perhaps drown out her thoughts with the text form her book.

- : - : - : -

Shikamaru unlocked the front door to his flat and walked in throwing his keys on the glass coffee table. "Shikamaru! So how was your partner project thing?" Kiba asked with a suggestive wink… even when he knew very well that the bassist was currently dating Temari.

Shikamaru mumbled something under his breath and ignored the guitarist. Naruto soon joined him. "Nah, Shikamaru… tell us!" He smirked elbowing Kiba in the ribs… who elbowed him back, and soon they had began an elbowing war, which Shikamaru regarded with a roll of his eyes.

"I said I was going to write… leave me alone."

"Write? Now I really gotta know! What happened." Kiba was acting like a damned gossipy chick, it was rather annoying, and Shikamaru was not in the mood to humor him. He was inspired damnit! After all this time? ! There was no way in fucking hell that he was going to let that inspiration to pass.

"Dude, he's so whipped. He must have been with Temari after his school partner thing or something. Hey Shika… did you happen to—" Naruto began with seeping interest before he was cut off by:

"Bother him and I'll castrate you."

That lovely response was courtesy of Sasuke who was now out of his room and standing in the middle of their living room looking livid. He'd obviously heard Shikamaru enter and the claim that he was going to write was like music to his ears (forgive the pun). And so help him, if anyone messed that up, he really had no problem with chopping off their balls. His lethal look was enough to shut the pair up… the threat was just reassurance. Shikamaru nodded his thanks to the young Uchiha before retreating into his room and closing his door.

He made his way over to the laptop, which sat on a mahogany desk, and took a seat in the matching mahogany chair. Beside him, his wastepaper basket was overflowing with crumpled sheets of notebook paper. The bassist would be lying if he said that he hadn't been trying to write. That much was true… it was just that none of it was very good… until today. That poem collaboration thing was… He'd certainly have to thank Kurenai-sensei for sticking him as Ino's partner.

Shikamaru flipped open his laptop and waited for the welcome screen to pop up. After typing in his password he opened word and began to write out what was on that crumpled sheet of notebook paper from the park. He printed out an original copy (for class) and then went to work on editing it.

AFTERLIFE

_Like walking into a dream,  
__So unlike what you've seen  
So unsure but it seems,  
_'_Cause we've been waiting for you  
_

_Fallen into this place,  
__Just giving you a small taste  
Of your afterlife here so stay,  
__You'll be back here soon anyway_

_I see a distant light, __But girl this can't be right  
Such a surreal place to see  
__So how did this come to be  
Arrived too early_

_And when I think of all the places I just don't belong  
I've come to grips with life and realize this is going too far_

_I don't belong here, __We gotta move on dear  
__Escape from this afterlife  
'Cause this time I'm right to move on and on,  
__Far away from here_

_A place of hope and no pain,  
__Perfect skies with no rain  
Can leave this place but refrain,  
_'_Cause we've been waiting for you  
_

_Fallen into this place,  
__Just giving you a small taste  
Of your afterlife here so stay,  
__You'll be back here soon anyway_

_This peace on earth's not right  
__(With my back against the wall)  
No pain or sign of time  
__(I'm much too young to fall)  
So out of place don't wanna stay,  
__I feel wrong and that's my sign  
I've made up my mind_

_Gave me your hand but realize I just wanna say goodbye  
Please understand I have to leave and carry on my own life_

_I don't belong here,  
__I gotta move on dear  
__Escape from this afterlife  
'Cause this time I'm right to move on and on,  
__Far away from here_

_Got nothing against you  
__And surely I'll miss you  
This place full of peace and light,  
__And I'd hope you might  
Take me back inside when the time is right_

_Loved ones back home all crying  
_'_Cause they're already missing me  
I pray by the grace of God that there's somebody listening  
_

_Give me a chance to be that person I wanna be  
(I am unbroken; I'm choking on this ecstasy)  
Oh Lord I'll try so hard but you gotta let go of me  
(Unbreak me, unchain me, I need another chance to live)  
_

_I don't belong here,  
__I gotta move on dear  
__Escape from this afterlife  
'Cause this time I'm right to move on and on,  
__Far away from here_

_Got nothing against youf  
__And surely I'll miss you  
This place full of peace and light,  
__And I'd hope you might  
Take me back inside when the time is right_

After he finished, Shikamaru stretched and glanced at the clock. It was almost 6… and curiosity couldn't help but compel him to wonder whether or not Ino was still waiting at the swings. And once that thought struck him, it stayed with him, until he decided to do something about it. "Troublesome," He muttered rather annoyed. He glanced back from the clock to his door (thoughts of how wrong he was being towards Temari pushed from his mind) before grudgingly going over to his closet to change.

"Going out." Shikamaru announced grabbing his keys and exiting their flat before any of his band mates had a chance to respond. He did however catch wind of Naruto and Kiba's smirks.

"Whipped." The two agreed after Shikamaru closed the door.

- : - : - : -

Three hours had passed, it was now after six, and six in the fall meant that it was going to get dark soon. Ino pressed her face into Shiro's jacket and looked around. It was getting late and he still hadn't shown. Ino sighed, her breath hung in the air due to the numbness that surrounded her. She scrunched her hands in the pockets of the large coat and looked up at the sky. It was a habit she'd picked up from Shiro, it really was very relaxing. And then some not so relaxing thoughts popped into her head. Her parents must have been worried sick, despite the few texts she had sent them confirming her aliveness. They were just like that… especially her father.

With another sigh, she tore her vision from the sky and buried it back into her book. Ino really had no idea why she was still here…

Okay that was a lie, she knew why she was here… she was waiting for him. It'd been three hours and he still had yet to show. But then again, it wasn't like they had set a date or anything… or he'd promised he come to come see her. They just happened to show up at the same place, at the same time, every day, for a week. Ino frowned and put her book away (she wasn't reading it anyways). She dropped her gaze to the ground, her feet making interesting circles in the sand beneath her.

If he didn't show by nightfall, she'd leave. She'd wait… wait until the stars, came out. And then she'd leave.

Shikamaru found the park quickly, and did a quick glance around. She wasn't going to be here, it'd taken him three hours to finalize those lyrics. Three hours. She wasn't going to be waiting around here for three hours… but then he saw her. A streak of platinum, and his black jacket. No way. She had her head bowed, and she was tracing circles in the sand with her feet. Shikamaru smiled and walked over to her, his hands in his pockets and expression guarded.

"Waiting for someone… Ino?" He tested the name on his tongue. Yes. It was much better than Yamanaka-san, and she didn't seem to object to his informality.

Ino jumped involuntarily and looked up. Her face cracked into a sweet smile, even though she tried to hide it. "Not particularly." She responded. Yeah that was a lie, too.

"Really?" And he hadn't missed it.

"Well, maybe I was…" She frowned. "Would that be a problem?"

Shiro smiled at her and took a seat on the other swing. "Not at all."

* * *

**A/N: Okay first things first, I keep getting reviews asking about why Ino didn't report the attempted rape… It's for the same reason most rape victims don't report it, they're ashamed and they don't want to relive the experience. Reporting it would force Ino to go through it again (mentally). Most are uncomfortable with talking about these topics, as is Ino. Ultimately, the goal for Ino (by not telling anyone about the attempted rape) is to ignore or even forget about the incident. Unfortunately, it's hard to erase the past, but she's not going to live with it forever though, so be patient, and see how the plot unfolds. :] Another thing, I don't want to seem like a fangirl over my own story D: But lots is coming up in the next couple of chapters and I'm really excited to write those chapters!**

_**Also**_** please don't make any rude comments about the interpretation of the song. It is **_**my**_** interpretation (no one else's)… and I hold it very dear because suicide has affected my life for the worst.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: OH MY FLYING COWS! I JUST FOUND OUT THAT I OWN NARUTO NOW, IT'S AMAZING! Nah… just kidding… sadly… D: Feel free to whack me with a frying pan if you wish. Naruto © Kishimoto and Hurricane © Something Corporate**

* * *

CH 8

Only moments had passed before Ino voiced what had been on her mind for the past three hours. "So… was there a reason you were… late?" Oh crap muffins. _That_ sounded particularly desperate. Late? It wasn't like they'd set a damn time! He didn't even have an obligation _to_ show up! What on earth compelled her to use that word? Late. Honestly, it sounded like she was a jealous girlfriend or something. Ino frowned at her verbal malfunction, but waited, anyways, for his response (not that she could do much else).

"Err…" Shikamaru scratched the back of his head sheepishly avoiding her stare. _Technically_ he had been there (here) three hours ago… so how the hell was he supposed to respond? Point out that he wasn't, in fact, late? He frowned. No. It was probably best to avoid the issue entirely.

"Um…" Long pause. Think damn it think! "I've just had family issues, recently." That was the best he could come up with…? Man he was slipping. But Shikamaru hoped she would leave it at that.

The blonde looked up, her tongue itching to ask what was going on, but she fought against the urge. There was probably a sensible reason for his vagueness—what was going on was most likely to be something he was sensitive towards, something he did not want to speak to her about—so she settled on offering an apology with her eyes.

Damn it. She took the stupid lie. And now he felt like crap. Shikamaru dropped his gaze to the sand beneath them and settled with just staring at the cream grains for a while. He _hated_ that his relationship with her was based on lies. He hated the lies. He hated lying _to her._ He hated that she believed the lies. There was a huge part of him that wanted so much to just tell her. Tell her who he really was—to get the damn thing over with—but he couldn't. He couldn't. What if she flipped out and slapped him? Or worse… what if she flipped out and never spoke to him again? _No_, he decided firmly. No, he wouldn't like that one bit. But, what was even more surprising was with _that_ realization, another dawned—another that unsettled him to his very core. It all made sense now. The reason he hadn't stopped thinking about her since their first meeting in the alley, the reason he continued to meet with her in the park, the reason he didn't want to tell her who he was… It was blindingly obvious—he liked her.

Fuck.

Shit. Shit. Shit. There was no way this could be good. He was treading in fucking dangerous waters, which were made even more perilous when you threw in the nasty windstorm and lethal clashes of lightning brewing overhead. This was just peachy. Really, it wasn't like he could act on his emotions. He couldn't tell her. Hell he shouldn't even be having these feelings because—Temari. _Temari_. Shit. Shit. Shit. He was dating her. But he liked Ino. But he didn't want to hurt Temari. But Ino was so perfect. No. He was with Temari. But Ino—_What the fuck had he gotten himself into? !_

"Shiro…?"

Shikamaru snapped to reality, grateful for the small questioning tone that pulled back him from the depths of his thoughts. His throat had suddenly run dry and taken on the consistency of sandpaper. He tried to swallow with no avail.

Ino blinked a couple of times at his conflicted expression. "Are you okay?" The hint of worry jerked Shikamaru's gaze back up to meet her eyes. It was his sign of acknowledgement since his throat had seemed to become presently paralyzed. "Shiro?" He still didn't answer. "Nakamura-san…?"

The alias was the iniquity that finally forced him to speak. "I'm fine," he replied with a forced smile. No he wasn't… but he couldn't let her know that. He was supposed to be… normal. He was supposed to be her friend. He had to settle his mind, to stop thinking about troublesome things. Just him… and Ino. He was focusing now.

Said blonde was looking at him with blunt skepticism, but didn't speak.

Shikamaru's stomach flipped. Yup. It was official. He was an idiot. But he was an idiot that still wanted to spend time with the troublesome woman who had a firm grip on his of his sanity. He wanted to spend _more_ time with her. But the only time he could see her was now… at the park… as a different person. "Ino?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?" She nodded in lieu of an actual answer and Shikamaru continued. The only way to talk without being face to face was… "You have a phone right?"

She hesitated, but then slid a phone out of her back pocket. "Yes. Why?"

"I don't mean to be forward or anything, but… erm… can I have… your number?" Silence settled over them for a minute and immediately thoughts, which ran along the lines of "what the fuck were you thinking? Idiot! She's going to freak," were spinning through Shikamaru's head. It was a sad fact that all logicalities failed him when it came to women. And that was probably the reason he found them so troublesome.

But once again Ino came to rescue him from his thoughts. This time, it was by flipping open her phone with a smile. "If you give me yours."

Shikamaru smiled and fished his own phone from the deep confines of his own pocket to comply. They exchanged numbers, and Ino, still smiling, put her phone away. She turned away from "Shiro" to take in her surroundings.

It was getting late. The sun was beginning to sink over the small expanse of horizon Ino was privileged to see. Most of the horizon was marred by trees and mountains, as usual, but the visible portion of the setting sun seemed to illumine the park with a warm orange glow. It wasn't that she wanted to leave, but she really had to be getting home. Over the course of three hours, she had received 20 missed calls from her father. He worried like that. Yes, she had sent him texts confirming her aliveness, but worry on he still did. She didn't want him to explode from the anxiety that was likely building. With Inoichi, it probably wouldn't be long until he called the police to initiate a search party. Ino sighed internally and looked up at the pink clouds. "It's getting late."

They hadn't been talking for a while, merely enjoying the other's company, but her small statement shattered Shiro's fixed concentration on the sky. He flipped open his phone and glanced at the harsh digital numbers lighting up the screen. Yeah, it was getting late. Damn it.

His response was a sigh and a nod. "Yeah, we should probably be heading back now." True, he liked her company, to no extent, but for the past thirty minutes he had been deep in thought. Deep in lyrical thought to be exact. It was funny how she did that to him. Perhaps Kiba was right: he only wrote when his consciousness was wholly occupied with a girl. What a drag. Why couldn't he write about anything besides the way he felt about people.

"Then… I'll see you soon. I can't much of this week… but how about the weekend?" Ino asked rising to her feet and slinging her book bag over a shoulder.

"That's fine. Saturday it is."

Ino smiled and nodded. "Saturday." She agreed before turning and drawing a course towards home. He watched her walk for a while before smiling to himself and heading towards his home. It hadn't taken very long to arrive at his front door, stick his key in the lock, and fling the door open. Perhaps it was because he was thinking. Time always seemed to go by faster when one had something to think about.

"HA! Read 'em and weep! That's forty you owe me fox-face!"

Naruto threw his cards at Kiba smug expression, retreated from the counter, then walked over to the pantry. "Yeah, yeah. 'Nother round says I whoop your ass," he responded digging around the mess of dry and canned foods.

"That's what you said last time, but I guess I shouldn't be complaining. Double or nothing?" Kiba smirked at Naruto's annoyed tug at an instant ramen cup.

"Fuck you." Naruto replied busying himself around the kitchen in order to best cook his beloved ramen.

"That a yes?" Kiba smirked doing that thing with his eyebrows again.

"Damn right."

The arguing brought Shino over from his seat at the TV. The documentary on termites he had been watching, earlier, was still playing in the background. "Would it be possible for me to join this round?" Kiba glanced over at the shade's wearer to his left, and then smiled. A creepy leering smile, like he was sizing up Shino for all that he was worth. Shino's expression remained indifferent.

"Only if you're prepared to cough it up if you loose."

"You're sure about betting money?"

"Scared, Aburame? Poker is a _man's_ game. Men _always _play for money."

"Very well." Shino took a seat across from the brunette and took the cards from Kiba. He began shuffling the deck expertly. They were screwed.

Never… _never_ play against Shino in poker. He was going to rob them for all they were worth. Poor Naruto and Kiba had yet to figure that out. Shikamaru, Kiba, and Shino were originally roommates before the band had started. And with living with other people came rules. Rule one: Never… NEVER play poker with the man. Any other game was fine, but poker… No. If you played poker with him, there was no way in hell you'd be walking out with any cash. The only reason Kiba had yet to figure this out was because he usually spent his nights partying. And while Kiba was out partying Shikamaru and Shino found other ways to occupy their time.

It was funny though. Shikamaru had been banned from playing poker with Kiba and Naruto, because he usually cleaned them out… (but that didn't really bother him—he was more of a shogi player himself and therefore his gambling losses were at a minimum). Shino, on the other hand, was the one who usually cleaned Shikamaru out, and they were challenging him? Not the brightest thing to do but whatever.

Absently, Shikamaru wondered if Ino played poker. And then his mind immediately jumped to a much less crowded room, with just him and Ino indulging in a game of poker. But not just any poker game… they were playing _strip_ poker. Preferably a game where Ino was losing. Shit! What was he thinking about? ! Shikamaru shook the thoughts from his head and tuned his thoughts back into reality. The reason for his hasty return home: the storm of thoughts in his head—and more importantly… lyrics.

Shikamaru found his way into his bedroom and took a seat at the desk stationed just under his window. He was finally alone. Alone with a smooth piece of paper, a pen, and his thoughts:

_Standing there with your smile blinding  
Your eyes from seeing  
My face as I'm dying _

_To figure out a girl_

_But she drifts so far away  
I'm on her coast  
So maybe I should stay  
And map around your world_

As much as he'd hate to admit it, it was was driving him insane. Every moment his thoughts had to spare was enraptured with the troublesome girl. He really had no basis for his infatuation. It merely existed, and that was what pissed him off the most. She was so different, from any other girl he'd met. She made him think. He couldn't figure her out and every time he got close to an answer, she'd have to leave, and in her absence, she'd take those answers with her.

_So don't say  
"These currents are still killing me"  
And you can't explain  
But the wind went and pulled me into your hurricane  
Into your hurricane_

And it all played back into the metaphor that she had sucked him from his cheery place of nothingness into this damn storm of chaos. He had no idea how she'd done it, but it was the first time he'd ever felt so conflicted. To be frank it scared the shit out of him… but that didn't stop him from being curious. He was so damn curious.

_So pull me under your weather patterns  
Your cold fronts and the rain don't matter  
Because the sun burns what I needed  
_

_So don't say  
"These currents are still killing me"  
And you can't explain  
But the wind went and pulled me into your hurricane  
Into your hurricane_

_You don't do it on purpose  
But you make me shake  
Now I count the hours 'til you wake  
With your babies breath  
Breathe symphonies  
Come on sweet catastrophe _

_Well, maybe this time I can follow through_  
_I can feel complete_  
_Stop paying dues_  
_Stop the rain from falling_  
_Keep my ocean calm_  
_This time I know nothing's wrong_

_So don't say_  
_"These currents are still killing me"_  
_And you can't explain_  
_But the wind went and pulled me in and no,_  
_You don't say_  
_"These currents are still killing me"_  
_And you can't explain_  
_But the wind went and pulled me into your hurricane_  
_Into your hurricane_  
_Into your hurricane_

It was so fitting. _So_ fitting. He found it curious that he'd had writer's block for a good four months, but, after he'd met her, he written two songs within a week? There was something about her. She could make him do things he'd never do for anyone else.

Like pretend to be a nobody and meet with her in a park everyday.

- : - : - : -

It was Saturday! Who the hell woke up before nine on a Saturday? Obviously it was someone who was intent on talking to him early in the morning because his phone continued to buzz annoyingly. Shikamaru mumbled something unintelligible before pulling a pillow over his head and groaning. His phone did not seem to heed his groans and went on buzzing as if it were the most pleasant thing in the world. "Fucking—Urg… stupid phone." Shikamaru grumbled out some more profanities and groped blindly around his nightstand in search of his vibrating phone.

Shikamaru rolled on his back and flipped his phone open squinting at the harsh light from the screen: it was a text. A text from Ino. He tried to stifle his smile before choosing view now. _Morning sunshine. Sleep well?_

Shikamaru grinned and replied: _All but the early morning wake up call. _He rolled on his side and flipped his phone shut, watching the screen fade to black, and then illuminate once again as he received another text.

_What? I woke you? D: I'm sorry._

_It's fine. I was due to get up any minute now. _No, he really wasn't but there was no harm in a little white lie.

His phone buzzed again with her response: _Good (:_

Shikamaru groaned again and pulled himself upright. He swung his feet around to the front of his bed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was going to get a headache today. That much was obvious. He had stayed up too damn late writing. The bassist sighed, grabbed his phone and walked out of his bedroom and into the kitchen.

He flipped his phone open again and upon entry to the kitchen he began texting back. _I thought so too. So what're you doing today?_ Shikamaru pocketed his phone and went searching through the pantry for something edible. Most of it was ramen, and he wasn't really in the mood for ramen at the moment, so he settled on a package of PopTarts.

Bzzz!

_I'm not doing much, why?_

Shikamaru swallowed a mouthful of PopTart and sent his reply. _No reason really. Just curious. _

Ino's response came quickly, _Your curiosity is fascinating. _

Shikamaru smiled. _Is it really?_

_Mmhmmm. It really is. (: Oh, and bad news, I won't be able to meet you at the park today._

_Why?_

_Chores. Homework. I'm so busy this weekend ):_

_That really sucks. I'm sorry. ):_

_Not your fault… I should probably get going now._

Wait what? Yeah he wasn't talking to her face to face but he didn't want her to leave yet. _Why?_

_Um… no reason really… it's just that I have to shower._

Shikamaru's thoughts were immediately filled with the blonde showering. Pale hands tangled in long strands of wet hair. Head thrown underneath the shower head. Eyes closed in ecstasy… lips slightly parted. And suds. Suds and water running down her body ever so slowly and—fuck. _What the hell?_ Screw his fucking hormones! He was a horrible person. She was a person dammit! He should not be thinking of her like that. Or better yet, he should not have asked that question. Shikamaru pried his thoughts away long enough to send his reply. _Oh. Right. Erm… text me when you can._

Lord, he was an idiot. A _stupid_ idiot. A _very stupid _idiot. Damn. Shikamaru let his head fall roughly onto the countertop, wincing upon the sharp impact his head made with the stone. Ino had really screwed him up. Her and her damn perfectness. "Uhn… they're right; I'm whipped. Fuck."

And then his doorbell rang bringing him away from his thoughts of Ino. Why was his doorbell ringing? Shikamaru looked up rather confused but stood up to answer it, anyways. Who the—?

"Shikmaru-kun? Are you up yet?" Came a high voice from the other side of the door. Fuck. _Temari. _Right Temari. Damn. Fuck. Shit. Fucking damn shit! (He really had to work on his mental cursing) What had he gotten himself into? This was not good. He was so screwed. Troublesome.

* * *

**A/N:**** SHIKAMARU! What are you doing? Toying with two girls at once? Dating Temari—liking Ino? Making Ino like Shiro…? It's just terrible! Just kidding, I made him do it. I'm evil… I know D: Don't kill me, please.**

**I apologize not updating in months! D: I've had a lot of stuff going on lately, with school and such… but anyways: a lot of you people were asking about why she doesn't recognize him… it's not that she can't, it's that she doesn't want to. It's not that she's stupid, Ino just ignores the hints she sees as a way of keeping "Shiro" alive. Hope that cleared things up? :D**

**Ooo 'nother two notes: First, please don't comment on the no text speak. I text in complete sentences, with punctuation, and the occasional smiley thank you very much… **_**and **_**I edited out some of the lyrics so it was ridiculously overwhelming but blah… Also, there are going to be a boatload of songs in this BUT not in every chap… (it was just coincidence that the chapter before this and this chapter had songs in it) However, once I reach 12 songs (the entire album) hopefully I'll be done. So 2 down 10 to go...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Kishimoto is still the lucky one who owns Naruto. **

**And 10,000+ views! Love you all! :D**

**Oooh a warning: This chapter skips around a bit and it's pretty long… so you might want to get comfortable.**

* * *

CH 9

The week was dragging on slowly. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday had come and gone with little event, and, by the time Thursday rolled around, Ino was ready for the week to be over. She currently sat at her lunch table, fingers drumming on the chipboard to pass the time, while waiting for Choji and Hinata to return from the snack bar. Which they did shortly, and—in Choji's case—with all sorts of chips tumbling from his arms. Ino gave a small smile before standing to help collect the fallen food. She was, however, very unaware of the pair of eyes that had been watching her movements for the past couple of weeks.

"Shikamaru!" The bassist startled visibly, and then turned to acknowledge the person who had been calling his name.

"What?" he asked moderately annoyed. In truth, the better question would be "why?" Why scare the shit out of him right now? He was just so happening to pleasantly be slipping away from reality at the precise occurrence of the rude outburst.

"You just seem really out-of-it lately, man. Something up?" Kiba asked.

"No, nothing's going on… I'm fine." Shikamaru replied putting his head down on the table, trying to fight off the headache threatening to begin.

"Are you sure?" And that was Temari. He had still yet to break up with her. This entire thing was turning into a ridiculous mess, and he hated that he had dragged her in the middle of it.

…

"Yeah, I'm sure." He responded with a forced smile. "I think I just need some air or something."

…He was a horrible person.

Shikamaru rose to his feet, grabbed his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and then picked up his tray—which he later tossed in a large, plastic garbage bin on his way out of the cafeteria. This situation sucked heinously, and why on Earth had he gotten involced with _women? _Troublesome. He would have been much better off just staying away from them entirely. And he would have taken that advice too had it not been for a certain platinum blonde who had forever been occupying every spare moment his mind had to offer. Shikamaru groaned inwardly and pushed open the gaudy glass door.

And Temari watched him leave, but not without a blend of sorrow and annoyance planted on her face. He always did this: pay little to no attention to her and then leave with little or no explanation whatsoever. She sighed, glancing down at her school lunch only to find that she didn't feel quite so hungry anymore. Instead of eating, the blonde resigned herself to stabbing idly at the cold, lifeless chicken sitting on her tray. When she grew tired of trying to kill the presently dead poultry, Temari glanced around the buzzing lunchroom until she found herself gazing in the general direction Shikamaru had been earlier. Her stare hardened.

It was _always_ the same table. That same stupid table. Every day, when he wasn't paying attention to her (even when he was paying attention to her dammit) he was always preoccupied with that stupid table! What the hell made it so freakin' special to him? Temari frowned and continued to watch the going-ons at the "freak" table. She cocked a slender eyebrow at their triviality… Screw it. Her curiosity was officially piqued, and she'd be damned if she left the stupid issue alone.

Monotony happened to be the devil's deadliest weapon on people like Temari. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep doing this; every day the same thing, the same people, the same table, the same desperation meant for Shikamaru's attention, the same annoyance that arose when brushed aside so easily, the same infuriating _sameness_. She was _going_ to figure it out. Figure out why her boyfriend was being so distant… and why he was always looking at—she glanced back at the table. Hinata, Choji, and Ino. Which one…?

Choji? Not likely. They hardly ever had any interaction save for their brief, polite exchanges in the hall.

Hinata then? Less likely. She highly doubted that the two had any classes together. She would know; it wasn't only the fact that she and Shikamaru shared the majority of their classes… but also—no. The other reason made her sound slightly obsessive, so she cared not to venture down that path.

Ino? More likely. Maybe it was the fact that they'd spent the most time together… what with that English project and all… that was it wasn't it? What if Ino was blackmailing him for something that had happend durring their partnership? Forcing him to stay on the wary side of things just in case...? No. No. That was silly. She was being silly. No doubt she had to be over-thinking the issue. It couldn't be Ino. She was much too… _normal_.

Temari froze. Normal? What if that was it? Was it their normality? What if he actually _was_ staring at all of them? Them and their stupid normality? What if Shikamaru was just getting bored of her and the same gossipy drabbles that took place at their lunch table… what if he was just—

And that was when the lunch bell rang signaling the start of the dreaded "scramble". The buzzing cafeteria morphed into a violent swarm of students tossing trash, pushing each other, and trying to force themselves out of the only exit: a single pair of double doors at the front of the building. The standard reaction to the sound of the bell temporarily knocked Temari's troubled thoughts away. She hurried to follow lead. The dirty-blonde picked up her tray, tossed it into a plastic bin, and headed to class.

- : - : - : -

Ino's fifth hour was particularly uneventful (aside from the pop-quiz in math), and it wasn't until the end of sixth hour did anything of monumental value really happen. Her damn cell-phone. Her _stupid_ cell-phone… she'd lost her damn stupid cell-phone! Ino dug through her locker once again but to no avail. Shit. Ino scowled at the phone-less locker with annoyance. Ugh! Today was steadily growing worse by the second. The blonde sighed, and began banging her head lightly against the metal. Her head was just about to come in contact with the metal for a third time when a thought struck her and halted the head banging. _Wait. Okay, Ino… approach this calmly and reasonably… when was the last time you remember having your phone?_

… Err…? She was pretty sure she had texted Shiro between fifth and sixth hour… Yup, she had… at least it was so based on her vague recollection of what they had discussed: cheese… of all things. But that settled it. She had _definitely_ texted him between classes. Ino frowned and tried to retrace her steps as she began to re-ransack her book bag.

Damn. It wasn't there. Not that that surprised her much… she'd searched her bag five times previously. Great. Where had she put it?

Perhaps she had accidentally taken it into the gym? The idea was ludicrous but it might be worth the endeavor if the results were to prove positive. Couldn't hurt. Ino left the girl's locker room and stalked out into the gymnasium. She glanced around the folded, cheap plastic bleachers, and then the surrounding empty room. She saw no glint of metal—even from something as unimportant as an aluminum can. Figures. Ino grumbled a couple of slight profanities and sighed. It didn't take much longer for her to conclude that her search of the gym had become nothing short of utterly pointless.

Ugh! This was so stupid. What had she done with her phone? Yes, it annoyed the crap out of her simply for the fact that it was her _phone _she'd lost_… _but that phone was also her only lifeline to Shiro outside of their meetings at the park. She was going to go insane if she couldn't text him anymore. And it was that realization that sparked another. They texted _way _too much. Ah well, she was a high school student… a sending and receiving upwards of a hundred texts a week wasn't too surprising. She frowned. It was sad really. Already the feeling of loss was dawning. She missed her phone.

"Yamanaka-san."

Ino spun around and caught sight of Temari walking towards her from the girl's locker room. Instinctively, Ino flinched on sight… but then she paused. Hold up… no Sakura? Temari was alone? Ino raised an eyebrow curiously. Odd, what did she want with her?

"I found this—in one of the bathroom stalls—is it yours?"

The restroom! Right. Of course her phone was obviously located in the _one place_ she had neglected to look. And of course it had to have been _Temari_ to find it. Ino brushed it aside as a coincidence. Hopefully, that was all it was. Hopefully, there'd be little confrontation. Hopefully, the whole thing would just blow over smoothly and Ino'd have her phone back by the end of it. But, then again, it _was_ Temari who had her phone. Damn. There'd be a catch before Temari would hand the phone over, wouldn't there? Ah well. Ino decided not to dwell on it. Temari had Ino's phone and was offering it for her to take; that was all that mattered. "Yeah… err… that's my phone." The Yamanaka gestured towards the bit of metal in Temari's hand awkwardly. Temari nodded and offered her the phone again. "Um… thank you?" Ino reached out to grab the cell, and to her surprise, Temari made no move to pull the phone out of reach.

The other blonde simply handed it over, gave Ino a somewhat forced smile, and left. Ino glanced from the phone, to the back of Temari's receding head, and then back to the phone again. Odd… _very_ odd… there was no catch? That was not part of her character at all. Honestly, ever since she'd met the girl, Temari had always been out for her best interests… anything that would benefit her in the long run. It was not normal for her to do something like this… or perhaps maybe it was. Perhaps all the rude pranks were merely influenced by Sakura… who just so happened wasn't here at the moment… so one could just assume—no it was too simple. That was exactly what they wanted her to think. What if Temari's niceness was a diversion meant to make her think she wasn't such a bad person when, in actuality, the devilish blonde had booby-trapped her phone. Aha! It made perfect sense… and if that was true, it was likely that Sakura was hiding somewhere in the shadows patiently waiting to laugh when she set the trap off?

Ino swallowed, knit her brows together, and glanced down at her phone somewhat suspiciously. It looked normal enough… but if there was one thing she had learned through experience… it was that appearances were often deceiving. And on such thought, Ino held the cell away from her face and flipped it open carefully. The blonde braced herself for an explosion or an embarrassing tune to blast out of the speakers but…

Nothing happened? Then what was it? There had to be something wrong with it… and if it wasn't obvious then—her list of contacts! Oh no no no no no no. No. Please no. She wouldn't have erased all the contacts. No no no. Please no. Ino's stomach dropped in panic as she scrolled over to her contacts page. She clicked it open and her beating heart stilled.

…

…they were all still there? Nothing had changed? Nothing? What? It didn't make sense… Ino frowned. She hadn't done anything?

…

…Maybe.

Maybe she was right before? Had she judged Temari too quickly? Ino's furrowed her brows again, slightly bemused, but she headed back into the locker room—to collect the rest of her things—anyways. Ino's grip on her cellphone tightned. No doubt the device would now be glued to her for eternity in fear of losing it again, Ino stowed it safely in one of the pockets in her sweatpants. She had her phone back. That was all that mattered, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was amiss. That encounter was nothing short of anomalous, that much was for sure.

- : - : - : -

That little _bitch_!

The pink-haird cheerleader's hatred towards Ino was now justified in Temari's eyes. Sakura was right—she'd always been right—and now Temari understood just how right her friend was about the bitch. Her understanding, however, did not come with forgiveness. Quite the contrary actually. Temari could feel the anger welling inside waiting to burst… but no. She had to be calculating. Recklessness was not a virtue in a situation like this.

How the _fuck_ had she gotten Shikamaru's number? And under a name like "Shiro?" What the hell? Did they have _pet names_ for each other or something? Temari seethed silently upon returning to the locker room. Yes, she supposed that it might have been just a little bit of a fault on her side for snooping around in the Yamanaka's phone… but her actions were justified. Really. Shikamaru had been staring at her—and her table—for the past three weeks! It was only fair that Temari be granted free reign to find out _why. _Albiet that "why" might have pissed her off it was still all justified.

It was all Ino's fault. She was sure of it. Ino, and her stupid—uh! This wasn't fair! Was he cheating on her with that bitch? Upon first seeing Shikamaru's number in Ino's phone, the nagging suspicion called to her somewhere in the back of her mind. However, Temari wasn't one to jump to conclusions… but she _hadn't_ jumped to conclusions. The betrayal was obvious through their texts. Who the fuck sends someone a hundred texts a week about crap like _cheese_? Shikamaru had never talked to her like that… why? Why not her? What did he see in _Ino_? She was nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing about her stood out to anyone… Nothing but her daddy and his money—and Temari was positive that Shikamaru wasn't some gold digger. Heaven knew he had enough money already.

The dirty-blonde frowned and relaxed her fingers. Unknowingly, she had been balling her hands into fists though the course of those thoughts. "Breathe, Temari." She whispered on an exhale. "Breathe." No, Ino wasn't going to get away with this. Temari wasn't about to lie down and let the girl steal Shikamaru from her… not now… no… she… she… not when she had just admitted to herself that she didn't like him… but that she loved him. No. That wasn't the whole of it. Temari was _in _love with him.

Something. She wouldn't just take this—she was going to fight back. Looking around for something—anything—to use against the girl… Temari's heart rate quickened. And then she spied an open locker. The smirk was barely there as she walked over to it, closed it, locked it, and returned to the gym in search of her coach.

He wasn't difficult to locate—the green jumpsuit stood in stark contrast to the white-washed walls—and upon spotting him, Temari schooled her expression. She hurried over to Gai a little frantically and spoke softly… but with some urgency, "Gai- sensei?"

"Yes Sabakau-san?" Gai asked beaming brightly in her direction with a thumbs-up sign. Temari did her best to plaster a look of anxiety on her face. Temari wasn't going to lie. She was not the best of actresses but it didn't exactly take much to fool Gai.

"I think Yamanaka-san stole my phone." The distress in her voice was a little fake… she'd have to work on that later.

- : - : - : -

Ino re-entered the locker room still feeling rather confused. Okay so that was odd. The blonde frowned and continued towards her locker. Her bag, which was lying on the bench directly opposite of the closed door, was hastily snatched up and zipped. Ino slung the pack over her shoulder and was getting ready to leave when the locker room door banged open.

The noise caused a couple of the girls to shriek, and Ino to spin around with wide eyes. Holy flying curdscones! Her heart felt like it had just burst out of her chest. Damn near gave her a heart attack.

"What's going on? Why is Gai-sensei in here?" Tenten asked perplexedly while trying to fix her hair up. Ino shrugged just as lost as the brunette. Gai was walking towards them. Why was Gai walking towards them? Ino glanced at Tenten an eyebrow raised.

"Miss Yamanaka."

Ino hesitated. "Yes?"

"Would you please explain yourself?" He spoke softly now… the hint of accusation in his voice startled her.

"What do you mean 'explain myself?' Explain what?"

"My phone." Temari spoke now. The judgment was harsh in her voice. "I saw you take it."

"What? I didn't—"

"Miss Yamanaka, Please open your locker." They had drawn a crowd.

Ino furrowed her brows and nodded immediately. What was Temari playing at? She hadn't taken her stupid phone! She was too damn busy looking for her own phone! The blonde spun in her combination and opened her locker. She had nothing to hide.

"My phone!" Temari said immediately rushing forwards and taking the cell from the confines of the locker. Ino glanced around bemused. What was going on?

"Young lady, stealing is not youthful at all!" Gai was speaking again… and he was angry. She hadn't seen him angry before… it was scary.

"What? No. I didn't… But I didn't—"

"Excuses are even _less _youthful, Yamanaka-san!" Gai interupted, shaking his head disapprovingly; his signature, gleaming smile was no longer in place. "You'll be taking your detention in room H201."

"Detention? But I didn't—!"

"_Excuses_, Miss Yamanaka, are not youthful!" Gai repeated with a frown. Ino closed her mouth and shot a scathing glare at Temari who smiled back. She knew there had to have been an ulterior motive. _Thanks, Temari. That was very thoughtful of you, _Ino thought cynically. The crowd was slowly dispursing… murmurs flitting through the still locker room.

"Ino, I'm sorry…" Tenten laid a hand reassuringly on Ino's shoulder. "Look, I gotta go." The brunette offered her a small smile before turning on her heal and taking her first steps towards the exit. "I know what you did Temari. That was low," Tenten spoke softly as she brushed passed the other cheerleader on her way the doors. Ino was at a loss for words. What the hell had just happened?

"Yamanaka-san. Room H201, now if you would please."

Ino stared back at her coach still bewildered and shaking slightly. She wasn't going to fight. Not right now. No. It was better to just let it go.

So, Ino made her way to the H building, with her bag slumped over her shoulder and a rather bitter expression on her face. She had sent a text message to each of her parents (they weren't on speaking terms at the moment) telling them briefly what was going on and where she was. Ino sighed. She was not looking forward to coming home after this. She hated it when they fought. It was always the same thing. Endless arguing… then a façade so the outside world wouldn't know what was really going on… it sucked. Ino prayed the fights would end soon… their ridiculous prattle no longer had any basis. She just wanted things to go back to the way things were before.

But maybe she wouldn't have to go home tonight… not that she wouldn't have to check in of course—the only thing her parents ever seemed to agree on was the same concept that "Ino was still to young to look after herself"—but she wouldn't have to stay long. Perhaps. Ino sent Shiro a text confirming her whereabouts and a hidden request that she hoped didn't seem too pushy:

_Hey I got detention… some stupid girl in my class... but I won't be at the park after school today…Erm… but I'll probably swing by at like 7?(Homework) If you don't want to come I'll totally understand. :( Sorry._

"Miss Yamanaka, I need your phone _now_, please. Texting during detention is strictly prohibited." Of course it was. Ino nodded, turned off her phone, and placed it gently in her teacher's hand. "Take a seat. You'll be grading tests." Her proctor handed her a stack of tests and the answer sheet. At least her punishment wasn't that bad. But still… a punishment was a punishment. And she should not have even _gotten_ a stupid punishment! Ino withdrew a red pen from her bag and began correcting the tests before her (a little forcefully I might add). This was going to be a long night.

- : - : - : -

Ino took note of the figure sitting on one the swings and smiled lightly… he'd come. She approached the swings, with her both hands in her pockets, still a little pissed about the way her day had unfolded… but that much was to be expected. _Nothing like getting detention to dampen an already dampened mood,_ Ino thought sourly as she walked towards her swinging partner.

Shikamaru glanced up at the sound of her arrival. His expression was slightly worried and he spoke quietly, "Hey are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ino glanced towards him before taking a seat to his left. "It was just detention…"

…

Well that explanation obviously did not suffice. He sat patiently waiting for her elaboration with a look of candid interest. So, Ino sighed and began to swing slowly, before explaining further. "Some girl at school thought it would be funny to hide her phone in my locker then tell our coach that I'd stolen it." Ino rolled her eyes bitterly her feet dragging lines in the sand beneath her. She kept swinging… waiting for an answer that never came. An uneasy silence had settled over them, making Ino feel incredibly uncomfortable. The blonde stopped swinging and turned to look at Shikamaru in confusion.

"Who?" It was amazing how disgust, concern, and anger could all be forced into that one clipped syllable.

Ino blinked a couple of times then furrowed her brows. "What? No. I'm fine—_it's_ fine… I'm just a little upset… high school, you know?" She was playing it off as something light and un-bothersome when in actuality it wasn't… and Shikamaru knew it. A skilled liar the blonde was not. It wasn't that she never lied; it was just that she was such and obvious liar, that the lying itself was bound to get her in more trouble than the act, which she needed to lie for, would. The blonde sighed, and avoided the bassist's unasked questions. "We go to different schools." He raised his eyebrows. "There's nothing you could've done about it."

His expression read blunt skepticism, and he answered bitterly, "I'd find a way."

Ino brushed off her feelings of annoyance towards Temari, smiled brightly, and then tried to stifle the laugh that urged to leap from her throat. She couldn't help but feel oddly elated by his concern. "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"I'm _fine._"

He finally dropped the issue after her fifth claim of "I'm fine" and by the time their little banter had ended, Ino was smiling openly. She was currently watching the quickly descending sun sink below the horizon; the approaching winter had caused for earlier sunsets… and more night. Which reminded her: "We should stay out late tonight." She stated not tearing her gaze from the pink and orange clouds.

"What…? Why?"

Ino smiled. "I—err…" She felt incredibly stupid right now but answered against her better judgment, anyways. "I wanted to… no. You know what…? It's not important." He gave her his blunt skepticism look again and Ino blushed. Shikamaru took notice of her blush with mild surprise… she was blushing? It was adorable. Shikamaru made an internal request: _Blush again_. "Nothing." Her blush spread, as did Shikamaru's smile_._ "I just wanted to see the stars… with you."

Silence.

"See? I told you it was nothing! I'll just—um… ahem. I should be getting home soon or something. I just… wow I feel like—no I'll. Erm… I'll just—"

He watched her babble a while more before unintentionally stopping her speech with a warm laugh. A laugh which caused Ino to turn to look at him stunned. He'd laughed? Well it was more like a half-laugh… but still! Was that really the first time she'd heard him laugh? "That's not 'nothing.' I've no objections." She was looking at him funny making him feel suddenly self-conscious. "What?" He asked matching her gaze.

Ino giggled. "It's nothing."

Shikamaru smiled again. "Last time you said it was 'nothing' it actually happened to be _something_," he reminded with a smirk.

Ino hesitated. "You laughed." He looked at her confused for a while making Ino blush once again. "I told you it was nothing." Ino responded, turning away quickly and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"No… no… I just didn't realize I hadn't—" Shikamaru smiled and stood up. "Come on I wanna show you something."

"Wha—?" Ino started when Shikamaru took hold of her wrist gently and pulled her into standing position. Ino smiled but made no move to withdraw, as he led her onward. "Where are we going?" Shikamaru didn't respond… but continued to lead her further towards the grassy area of the park. "Shiro?"

"Shh… lie down." He instructed lying in the grass himself. Ino cocked an eyebrow but sat down beside him. He looked at ease. His arms propped behind his head and staring up. A smile tugged at Ino's lips as she stared down at him. He was sweet. She lowered herself until she was lying beside him and felt content to merely have another person next to her. "Look." A hand slipped out from behind his head and he pointed up.

Ino smiled. They laid there for a while… a long while, watching the stars fade through the clouds… The dusk sky had long since melted into an inky-black one dotted with stars. It was getting late. Ino knew it was getting late. They were looking at the stars for goodness sake…! It had to be late by now. Ino flipped open her phone and groaned at the florescent numbers. Of course it wouldn't last forever.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked sitting up.

Ino flipped her phone shut and sat up as well, brushing the grass from her hair. "It's almost nine my parents are going to be so worried—"

"Nine? What—your parents start worrying at nine?"

"Seven actually… but that's not the point—I sort of snuck out of my window… so they don't know I'm gone right now… they were arguing downstairs and I didn't want—that's besides the point too. I just need to get home… if either one of them finds out I'm gone they'll call the cops… again." She was gathering her things while she spoke. Shikamaru was now standing as well, though he was feeling rather confused as he watched her move about the grassy area frantically. She was shoving bits and pieces of things in her pockets… namely her phone and wallet. She hadn't brought much after all…

Ino spun around looking around for anything that she might of forgotten and soon lost sight of her original task. The fact that she was now standing face to face with Shikamaru had blown all thoughts of returning home from her mind. They couldn't be more than a foot apart… but neither had made any attempt to move. Ino's thoughts strayed.

It was cold. So cold that Ino's cheeks stung sharply against the bitter wind. So cold that her breath escaped in visible, even clouds that hung in the air for a moment or so before vanishing. But the cold was just a distraction; something to keep her mind occupied. It was a desperate attempt to keep those straying thoughts away from that one question—a question which had been nagging somewhere in the back of her mind since the night of her first meeting with "Shiro"… a question that she was too shy to venture forward. A question she couldn't continue to hold back for the life of her.

Ino bit her bottom lip and then glanced down towards her feet. A hand slipped out of the pocket of her (his old) jacket and brushed a stray strand of platinum behind her ear, only to return—once again—when the air had numbed the appendage. She couldn't avoid it any longer: "You trust me right?"

There was a brief pause before he answered, slightly confused, "Yeah…"

"Then can't I see your face…" He raised an eyebrow. "Eyes?" she amended quietly. "I trust you… but I can't help but feeling that you're hiding something from me."

He stared at her for a moment, his expression relaying no emotion. He was so guarded… almost always. Ino's own, pastel-blue eyes searched the dark shades for a sign.

_Any sign, _Ino thought in vain, her heart pounding in her chest at his continued silence.

_Just give me a sign._ Shikamaru remained motionless.

_Dammit anything! _Nothing.

The silence between them grew awkward making Ino shift uncomfortably beneath his stare. She wanted to break the silence. To break it in any way possible.

In this particular case, "any way possible" meant for both of Ino's hands to withdraw from her pockets, rise to the level of her torso, clasp gently, unclasp, begin to reach hesitantly upwards, and come to rest lightly touching the sides of his face. Neither of them moved for a moment… and then Ino's slender fingers curled around the arms of the shades.

"Stop." Shikamaru caught both of her wrists, and he deliberately averted his gaze to the ground. Ino watched him her hands relaxing, and, in turn, releasing her grip on his "mask".

"It's okay," she whispered leaning into his line of vision and glancing upwards with a reassuring smile. "It's okay."

Another moment of silence. He still hadn't released her hands, but now they served as a comfortable barrier between the two… and then he was exhaling more shallowly than inhaling. Somewhat like the breath he was breathing in somehow got caught in his chest and refused to return to the atmosphere in those small, hypnotic, white clouds. Ino found herself rooted to the spot, just standing there her wrists still held firm in his larger, much warmer hands. She felt comfortable… safe. But the gap between them was somehow growing smaller… and smaller still… until barely an inch remained. His breath tightened and eyelashes lowered. Her eyes were drooping. Slipping closed… and then—

A pair of lips brushed over hers—ever so gently—until both pairs were melding—dancing… but then it was over. Much too soon… for either of their tastes. Shikamaru pulled back quickly, releasing her hands and withdrawing. "I'm sorry—I—erm… I didn't—I-I mean—I shouldn't have… I won't do it again."

"No." Ino shook her head. "No, I need more," she whispered leaning up and pushing her lips against his once again.

Shikamaru's response was immediate—instinctual in spite of the hammering heart within his chest. Ino's heart was pounding rapidly in her ears, drowning out all ambient noise… save for the sound of their messy breathing. But she didn't care. It felt _so right_. So right to have her arms wrapped around his neck. So right to be this close to another person. So right for her not to want to let go.

One of his hands had snaked around her waist, dragging her closer to him—if that was possible—possessively. His other hand had tangled itself somewhere in her hair, pushing her deeper into the kiss, as a tongue brushed across her lower lip… Ino accepted.

The lack of oxygen that was managing to get to Shikamaru's brain was dizzying, but he didn't want to pause, even for a moment, to take in air. It had been so long. He had wanted for _so long_ just to ram Ino against a wall (school, public, or otherwise) and kiss her until he lost consciousness… and now that he had her… there was no way in heaven, hell, or on God's green earth that he'd be stopping anytime soon.

Ino was the one to pull away for air. Breathing rapidly, she pressed herself into his chest, not trusting her knees to hold her up. He hugged her gently, making Ino's eyes slip closed with a contented smile. "Shiro," she whispered.

Shikamaru tensed instantly. Not once… not once in all the times he had imagined kissing her did that name ever pop up. _Shit_. The bassist closed his eyes, wrapped his arms tighter around the blonde, and kissed the top of her head gently. _Shit._

They stayed standing there for a while, simply content to be pressed against one another with nothing more than silence around them. The night had welcomed the silence. Unfortunately, moments like these were doomed to end at some point. "It's getting late—my parents." Ino finally whispered, shifting in Shikamaru's hold. She looked up at him, smiling gently, before leaning upwards to press a quick, soft kiss to his lips. Then, she pulled away.

Shikamaru made a small noise of discontentment at the loss of contact but made no move to stop her. Ino smiled at him again, brushing her hair behind her ear, and then slipping her hands into the pockets of her jacket. "I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked timidly, a blush spreading across her face.

Somewhere, through their long talks, short arguments, and the all time they'd spent together, she'd really fallen for him. The fact terrified the crap out of her, but at the same time, the foreign feeling was exciting, albeit equally embarrassing. Her blush deepened when Shikamaru didn't respond immediately. He seemed terribly occupied by a piece of her hair that had slipped out from behind her ear.

He brushed it back and glanced down at her. "Tomorrow," he agreed returning her smile.

Ino smiled at him—not knowing how to respond—before turning around and beginning the familiar trek towards home… the smile had not left her lips.

- : - : - : -

But Shikamaru had not been the only one to watch her leave. Temari's heart had ceased to beat from where she stood behind the shelter of a rowan. She couldn't make sense of it. _Why_ was he doing this to her? What did she ever do to him? What had she done wrong? What had she done?

Temari swallowed thickly and tore her gaze away from the field, blinking away the tears blurring her vision. _Why_ was this happening? Why?

Her knees buckled and she slid down the rough tree bark not caring that her shirt had snagged on a twig and was now hitched halfway up her stomach. She _loved_ him. Why? _Why?_

Temari's bottom lip trembled pitiably. The tears still hadn't left eyes but they were now threatening to spill down her cheeks… it took all of her will power not to just break and cry. She hadn't cried in so long, but she couldn't cry. She was supposed to be strong. No. She _was _strong. She had to be strong… but that temptation. The temptation of releasing her feelings… the temptation to give in to the sweet lure of wallowing in utter unguarded emotion… it was so hard to resist.

Temari took in a shuddering breath and choked on the oxygen. She trembled, her brow creasing and the tears, which had been glassing over her eyes since the beginning of their…

…

…kiss (Hell she didn't even want to think it!), began to slowly fall. That was all she could think of. Just her… and this excruciating pain. It was like someone had ripped out her heart and was crushing it in their hand all the while laughing cruely at her protests. Temari dropped her head into her knees willing the rest of her thoughts and all of reality to simply melt away. She was still trying to halt those tears, and the effort was making her chest hurt. It was too much. Too much to hold onto.

So she let go.

- : - : - : -

Ino was still smiling. Oh lord, he'd really messed her up. But frankly, Ino could care less. There was nothing but Shiro on her mind right now. Nothing about her parents fighting… nothing about Temari… nothing about her detention… or school… or work… or—but being in a world centered around one thought wouldn't last long and she knew that. Ino wasn't naïve.

It was a little after nine o'clock when the blonde finally arrived home. That permanent smile still hadn't left her face; she did, however, try to stifle it as she began climbing the small tree in front of her house. Though the word "tree" might have been too generous. The piece of foliage was still a sapling, and thus only reached halfway up the dwelling. She'd have to jump to the roof in order to get inside her bedroom safely. But it was no matter. She'd done it a couple of times before: usually only in extreme emergencies… like when her parents were fighting again. They might have the image of a perfect marriage on the outside… but behind closed doors…

Ino cut off that train of thought abruptly, and instead pulled herself through the window quickly and quietly. She only hoped that her parents hadn't decided to pop in her room for a while and find her missing. She'd have a nasty surprise in store for her if they had…

"Ino darling!"

_That had not been what she was expecting. _Ino jolted violently, her foot getting caught on the windowsill and sending her toppling to the ground. She was sure that her mother—or her father—had heard the 'thud' and flinched. The sound of heavy footfalls ascending the stairs didn't come so she called back from her position on the ground. "Um… yeah?" She was trying to sit up now, examining her elbow which now had a nasty case of carpet burn. That really hurt! Hopefully she hadn't broken her ankle or any other part of her body on impact.

"Darling, we have company. Come down stairs please."

Company? What—at nine…? How come she wasn't informed of this, earlier?

As it was there were really only two people who could be waiting for her downstairs. The first choice being: one of her father's new business partners. The second choice being: the cops her parents were to likely call if they found her missing (_please don't be the cops_). As it was, she didn't know…so Ino didn't argue. It always ended badly when she tried to talk back, anyways. "Yes, mother." Ino got back to her feet and pulled her leg through the window. She tested pressuring it gently—incase she had indeed hurt it badly—but only found that it throbbed dully. It was probably fine. The pain wasn't unbearable or anything; she could deal with it.

More pressing matters at the moment was her apparel. Going downstairs to meet the "company" dressed as she was now would probably cause a quarrel with her mother. Ino frowned but she stripped out of her baggy sweats and Shiro's jacket, to prevent the pending dispute. She pulled on a flattering pair of jeans, and then a nice blouse on over her tanktop. Drag a comb through her hair… and come downstairs. Ino knew the drill and she was used to it by now.

"Mother, who am I—?" the blonde began as she descended the stairs. She turned the corner into the posh living room and froze. Standing before her, and not without a stupid smug grin on his face, was—

"You remember Kankuro Sabaku, right darling?"

* * *

**A/N:**** First off, my update is pretty late because I got into a bad car accident a few weeks ago and was hospitalized. They didn't release me until literally this Monday (yes, I'm fine… I have a couple of stitches and one of my legs is in a cast but I'm okay; my sanity is perfectly intact—or at least I hope so ^-^). But besides that; I'm so sorry it's all drama-y. But flying cows! So much happened in this chapter! They **_**finally**_** kiss, Temari finds out, Kankuro's back…! (He's gonna be pretty important but you won't really see him again until like chapter 12-ish? And heads up next chapter has a crap-load of drama)**

**Other than that, I'd like to give a thank you to all of my lovely reviewers, those who did not un-alert the story during my brief absence, and whoever has read faithfully up to this point. I love all of you guys :P **

**I do have one request for you though. Please stop telling me to update in rude ways. I don't mind if you say "please update I can't wait to see what happens next," but when I get reviews like "UPDATE NOW DAMMIT OR I WILL KEEL YOU," (paraphrased of course) it really puts me out of the mood to write. Please know that I have much going on in my life apart from this story, so I apologize henceforth if my updates are slow (**_**I have not given up on this story… when I make commitments I try to stick to them as best as I can**_**). So I will give you a fair warning: my updates will probably be slow until the end of this school year. I apologize again, but please bear with me.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it… if I did, I probably wouldn't be sitting in front of a computer screen writing fanfictions, now would I? Lols, Naruto © Kishimoto.**

**And heads up this is another pretty long chapter… Heh, I'm so sorry for unloading so much text on you guys as of recent… hopefully I'll be back to posting like **_**regular **_**length chapters soon… I really need to plan better D:**

* * *

CH 10

_-Art-_

—_wasn't for you, everything—_

Ino blinked multiple times feeling rather bewildered. All thoughts of last night's meeting with the Sabaku flown from her mind. Ino, however, couldn't tell if she was grateful for this distraction or not. Well… a distraction was a distraction, she decided, no matter how improper. Ino moved aside the papers covering the words etched into the table.

_Fucking bitch. If it wasn't for you, everything would be fine._

Her stomach dropped. What? Was that meant for her? The blonde frowned with obvious discomfort, before setting her bag down gingerly beside the large table, conveniently located in the top left corner of the room. She took her seat and furrowed her brow in confusion. The etching was new. There was no doubt in her mind that this… _message_ wasn't here yesterday, and the detail had given her a rather nasty suspicion that it was meant for her eyes. Ino tried to shake the feeling—not that reading, and rereading the words without end, had helped at all—but it didn't make sense. If this _was_ directed towards her… what on earth had she done to deserve it? Ino reflected on her recent endeavors; she hadn't screwed someone over recently, had she? No… or at least she hadn't screwed anyone over _knowingly_… which made Ino wonder if the engraving actually _was_ written for her… It was either that option, or the other likely choice of blaming the state of her mussed-up mind on her incessant paranoia.

Ino glanced around the busy pre-bell art room for a hint of apprehension. Her examination was thorough. Nothing. No one seemed to be guilty or anxious in any way (well, there was this poor guy at table three who was trying to get some girl to go out with him, but Ino highly doubted that that uneasiness was remorse for carving some rude message into her desk). Perhaps she was just over thinking it? Maybe the note _wasn't_ meant for her at all? Maybe it was for someone who had art before her? It would explain why it wasn't here yesterday. Besides, there were plenty of other people, apart from Ino, who sat at this table… in this seat…

Okay so _maybe_ there were only two others students who sat here, but the point remained: there _were_ other students. …That meant that her notion was entirely likely, right? Right. The note was meant for someone else. Yes, that was it…meant for someone else… maybe… hopefully?

Ino shifted uncomfortably drawing her black jacket tighter around her shoulders. Had it always been this cold in the art room?

…Oh no… she did _not_ just think that.

Great, yes. Yes, she had. Perfect. She was distracting herself, wasn't she? That was never a good sign. Quite the contrary, really. Distractions usually meant she was hiding her guilt of something, and if she was guilty of something, then that thing she was guilty of would give some person motive to scribble a rude message into her desk. Bad bad sign. Ino frowned.

_Yeah, I'm pretty sure it wasn't always this cold here—no, dammit!_ The temperature of the room had absolutely nothing to do with her current crisis, which meant it was a pointless distraction, which indirectly meant she was guilty. The idea didn't sit well with her, so Ino decided to discard the thought, and instead she let a finger run over the engraving, her fingertip pulling loose some chunks of table left in the deep scratches. Yup, fresh. Ino withdrew her hand but didn't take her eyes from the words. She probably _was _just over thinking it… she tended to do that…

Ino didn't notice the other member of table one enter the classroom (not that she ever usually did, as the bastard simply liked popping up out of nowhere and startling the pudding out of her). He did a quick glance around the class, as usual, and then took his seat. The little note on the table didn't go unnoticed. He gave a false smile. "I'm sure the little asswipe that did that will get what's coming to them. Don't worry, gorgeous."

Ino jumped slightly, and then frowned at the guy sitting directly across from her. His false smile didn't flicker in the slightest, so Ino returned the grin with her own, small forced smile. She countered with light sarcasm, "Thank you for that comment, Sai; it helped greatly."

He smiled at her again, and spoke without missing a beat. "No problem." He'd either missed the sarcasm or chosen to ignore it. Ino had her bet on the latter. Sai was Sai. He was just like that.

Ino smiled again, albeit a little more relaxed this time due the familiarity. Sai was a generally pleasant guy to be around when you didn't piss him off. Not that anyone could really tell when they pissed him off because he always hid behind that same forced smile. But Ino understood him. When she thought about it, they were actually similar in a way; they both hid behind their own mask… and she was pretty darn positive that neither of them was very happy with the masks they had donned.

Ino sighed, trying to relax a bit while she took out her sketchbook. Sai followed her actions, withdrew his own sketchbook and flipped through it to find their current project. Not that she knew how he could find anything in that mess. Honestly, the two sketchbooks were stark in comparison: Ino's being small and tidy, while Sai owned a rather large sketchbook, with all sorts of wear and tear, and loose drawings sticking out from the binding at odd angles. It was a wonder that the thing hadn't ripped yet. Sai's voice brought Ino out from the depths of her thoughts. "Turn a little to the left, gorgeous." Ino obliged. Currently, they were working on portraits, and, conveniently, they were assigned to draw the person sitting across from them.

Sai was a genius when it came to art, and Ino, on the other hand, had the artistic flair of a monkey on morphine. None of her stuff could even be called "art" in comparison to what Sai could do. She frowned down at her incomplete portrait of Sai and quashed the small inkling of jealousy rising in her. "Sorry, you look terrible… No… N-No wait…! Erm, that came out wrong—no, I didn't mean it like that—the picture—I was—"

Sai smiled, "I know what you were talking about."

Ino nodded and glanced between Sai and "picture" before ripping out the sheet, crumpling it into a ball, and tossing it in the trash can. All was hopeless. After selecting a new pencil, she exhaled sharply and set to work. But her mind wasn't too focused on sketching. She might put on a class face to make her peers unaware of any internal conflict, but truth be told, Ino's mind was still wholly occupied with that stupid little note, and the unease it caused. And then she recalled Sai's cheeky comment from earlier, which actually made her feel a bit better.

The blonde dragged her pencil across the page before sighing under her breath, "What goes around comes around."

Sai looked up. "What was that?"

Ino smiled. "Nothing."

_-English-_

What. The. Hell. Ino quirked an eyebrow setting her book bag down on the floor next to the connected plastic chair. _Why was there ink all over her desk?_ What was going on today? The blonde glared back down at the blackish-bluish goop, which had seeped into the chipboard rather nicely, and frowned. Who was pissed at her? Better yet, who was pissed at her that shared two of her classes? They didn't necessarily have to be in the same order that she had them… but they had to share them none the less.

There was only one person who came to mind: Temari.

It was true that Temari had art first hour, and she shared Ino's English class, but she hadn't pissed Temari off recently…!

Ino glanced over at the dirty blonde. She was sitting all prim and proper in her seat looking completely at ease while she stared at the whiteboard. Ino's eyes narrowed willing the blonde to look up so that she could find a trace of guilt on her face. But she didn't look up… nor did her expression read remorse in the slightest… damn. Was Temari even mad at her? No. Ino didn't think that—wait, what about that phone thing yesterday? Temari had gotten her detention without reason. Did that count for something?

Ino frowned trying to think of ways she could have possibly wronged Temari—the other blonde could most definitely be vicious when needed—but when Ino was rewarded with the brilliant idea of nothing, she resorted to analyzing the cheer co-captain. Temari wasn't one to attack for no apparent reason…

Well, that assessment wasn't entirely true. However, when the other blonde did strike (without seeming cause) it was usually to appease the whims of Sakura. _Sakura!_ Temari could be acting right now because of _Sakura!_ The revelation certainly made sense; the pink-haired billboard-brow was really the only person who really hated her guts for no purpose.

…Crap! Sakura was out of town for some annual family Christmas vacation-y thingy, and Temari wasn't likely to act without her. Which would mean that Temari was mad at her. Which put her back to square two. _Why was she mad at her?_

Uh! Did it really matter why she was mad at her? Hell, did it really even matter _who _was mad at her? She just wanted whoever it was to stop harassing her!

Ino sighed roughly, not shielding her annoyance well, before checking her seat for ink—it was clean—and sitting down. She could deal with this on her own. If she made a fuss to the administration about a little bit (okay a lot) of ink on her desk, and a couple of nasty words scrawled into a table, she would likely be satisfying the desires of her harasser. Wasn't the only reason people did things like this because they liked seeing the act of retaliation from their victim?

But why _ink_? Really _ink_? And it was everywhere! Ino pouted childishly, idly wondering if schoolwork could be done in an environment like this? Arriving at a solution, she sighed and pulled out her notebook. After ripping out a couple of sheets of paper, she laid them neatly across the top of her desk (much like a person, laying newspapers down for a yet-to-be-house-trained puppy, would). The makeshift placemat would have to do. At least she wouldn't stick to her desk; having a big, nasty inkblot on an elbow did not sit well with her.

After setting her notebook down on top of the layered sheets, she flipped the cover open to reveal a fresh page. Ino wasn't a weak person, she could deal with it. Besides, this was her last period before lunch. Just one more hour, and then she'd be fine.

_-Math-_

Or at least she thought she'd be fine.

But no, the blonde was only allowed the half-hour break for lunch before it started again. The rude scratching on her desk in art, and the ink smeared across her desk in English was enough to make anyone's day terribly crappy, but apparently "terribly crappy" was not crappy enough for Ino. Of course, she wasn't allowed off the hook just yet! Not with those mere two _pleasantries_. No siree! She still had at _least_ one more to go!

And so she found, upon entry into her Calculus class, that she had to deal with no less than _fifty_ math books stacked high on her desk.

…Her head was going to explode.

There was no doubt about it. It would explode… and the explosion would be soon judging by her well-concealed rage. And then after it exploded, all the poor students surrounding her would be showered with bits of Ino brain and skin, and then the guys in those giant safety hazard suits would be ushered in to the classroom in order to solve the mystery of her spontaneous exploding head, they would no doubt come up empty handed, and then leave, but not before the girls in the class could start screaming because of the gory mess, so then a janitor would have to be called in to mop her bloody remains off the floor of her calculus class, and why was she thinking of this again? She was only making things worse for herself. The unwelcome thoughts had only succeeded in making the half-digested ham and cheese sandwich in her stomach unhappy.

Ino glared the stack of books and set her book bag down, admittedly a little harder than necessary, next to her desk. She felt livid. _Who_ was doing this and _why? What had she done?_ Hell! She hardly ever willingly _talked_ to people… let alone get close enough to anyone to piss them off.

"Whoa, who did _that_?" Choji asked anger barely registering through his mouthful of chips. If she attempted to respond to his question, Ino would probably snap at him for something irrelevant—like the bit of Dorito stuck to his chin. However, being the extremely close friends that they were, Ino didn't want to hurt his feelings. So, as a result, she remained stubbornly silent. "Here let me help, you." Choji folded up his chip bag and stuck it in his pocket. Only after did he take huge armful of books.

_Good Lord_ the man was strong! He had taken half of the entire stack without even flinching. Ino forced a smile… she wasn't really in the mood to smile but she wanted to show her appreciation. "Thank you, Choji. That's sweet of you."

He smiled back, albeit his was carefree and happy and totally oblivious to her false happiness. "Don't worry about it," He said as he tipped the stack of books onto the shelves. Ino grabbed a few books from the top of the pile, while Choji swiftly returned for the rest of the stack. They dumped the books in their rightful place and took their seats. And when Ino sat down, she found yet _another_ message crudely scratched into the wood-imitation:

_It's all your fault, you whore. _

Ino's fist clenched at her side. This was going too far. What the hell?

And Choji must have then just noticed her anger because he spoke suddenly, snapping her out of her trance. "Hey, Ino. Are you okay?" The man had his bag of chips open, once again, and situated neatly in the center of his desk.

He was munching while he spoke—which was commonplace for Choji—but, at the moment, Ino found this incredibly annoying. "I'm _fine, _Choji!" She responded harshly… and then felt immediately horrible for speaking to him in such a way. He gave her an odd, startled look before turning away from her, his feeling obviously hurt. "No. Choji, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap." She apologized hastily, willing away the way she stubbornly felt like a piece of shit. Choji remained motionless.

"It's fine." He mumbled.

"I didn't mean it, I swear. I'm sorry." She repeated again for good measure. Choji nodded… Ino closed her eyes.

_Breathe, breathe. Mindless—well okay, I suppose it would be justified—anger is what they want. Breathe. Don't please them by getting angry. Breathe. Don't please them by showing your anger. Breathe. _Ino repeated this quiet mantra multiple times before she finally felt the irritation seeping away. She opened her eyes—

_You whore._

—and then promptly closed them again. She began to grope blindly around the inside of her bag for a pen, before finally finding one and withdrawing it. She pulled off the cap with her teeth, and glared down at the offending word. And then she began to scribble it out viciously. Who gave two hairs if she was damaging school property? It was already ruined and she couldn't bear look at that word. She wasn't a—. No. Just ignore it… ignore it… ignore it… ignore it… ignore—

_Why was this happening?_ What had she done wrong?

_-Park-_

It was instinct now… habitual. Just walking towards the swings—as always—getting out her book, and waiting. She didn't have to look up to know when Shiro arrived. "Hang on." She responded—without prompt—before turning the page brusquely. She was still in a bad mood from earlier, and wanted nothing but to finish the chapter before setting her brain back into motion and attempting to think. Yes, that meant she wasn't exactly _thinking_ at the moment.

Reading, for Ino, didn't take much concentration. It was her way of willing her mind into a state of momentary peace—just absorbing words on a page while forcing her own—less enjoyable—reality behind a door she refused to open until deemed fit. Yes, Ino was a book nerd (though that much should have been gathered) and the fact could quite easily become her downfall… not that she cared. Coping with difficulties was a far more pressing matter—at the moment—than trying to stall her impending doom.

Nowadays, most people her age resorted to drugs, alcohol, or razors as means of escaping, and while Ino wouldn't deny that she too needed an occasional lapse of reality, she chose more wholesome means of dealing. The question was a simple choice: would she rather drug her mind with books or with pills, alcohol, and razors. In her authoritative opinion, she had chosen the much better alternative.

The blonde heard no complaint to her previous "hang on" comment—not that she was actually listening for a response, so if he _had _said something, it was unlikely that she would have heard it anyways—and she continued to read in silence. As it was, however, Shiro hadn't said anything, and instead, simply took a seat to her right.

Finished. Ino sighed lightly, looked up from her now closed book, and turned to glance at Shiro. He was staring at her with an expression her muddled mind didn't want to comprehend at the moment. The blonde stared back, stoic. There was a long pause, filled with nothing but the impromptu staring contest, before Ino smiled uncertainly, feeling awkward with their silence.

"So… are you going to tell me what's wrong." Shiro's words caught her off guard.

And Ino clearly didn't hide her surprise well: her thin eyebrows had shot skyward, then furrowed, her eyes widening to an impossibly large size, and another uncertain smile wouldn't go awry either… "What makes you think anything would be… wrong?" she responded hesitantly, her tone betraying her words. Stupid tone.

Shiro raised an eyebrow and frowned in effort to hide his growing smirk. She was so funny. "I don't know if you've noticed it recently, but you're a terrible liar—no offense—and, besides, you only ever glare daggers at your book when you're in a bad mood."

How in the world had he noticed _that_? "Wha—No I—?" Ino frowned, unable to come up with a snappy retort. "I don't glare daggers at my books," was the "witty" answer she finally settled upon. "And besides, if I was in a bad mood, I wouldn't have—"

Shiro smiled. "Don't deny it, I know you better than that." The blonde looked startled for a moment and then turned away from his gaze a prominent blush beginning to form on her cheeks. It was true… and terrifying. He'd learned more about her in a month than most people ever learned about her in a lifetime. He was ridiculously observant. It made her feel very small… like all her faults and problems were his to see and judge her for… not that he ever did.

Shiro, however, missed the blush and repeated his question, when she gave him a silent explanaition, "So what's wrong?" Ino flicked her head towards him suspiciously; their eyes met and held for a moment. What could she say? There was so much on her mind, and she prayed to God that it wasn't showing in her eyes. He'd, no doubt, take interest and analyze the crap out of it, and then she'd be left feeling even more vulnerable than she was now… and she really didn't want that. Nor did she really want him knowing too much about what was going on. That would be awkward… and there was no doubt that he'd be angry.

Ino sighed and turned away, her thoughts now swimming in everything that was going on presently. The stuff at school was just a small distraction compared to her other issues. Like the fact that the guy that had almost raped her a month back, had decided to drop by, act quite civilly, be welcomed openly into her home by her parents, look all smug about the shit involving her that had just so happened to start unfolding with her father's business deal, and surprisingly worse that jerk's mere presence, was that her _parents_, whom she trusted with her life, were now pressuring her into—"It's just boring stuff at school." Best avoid the second issue entirely.

"Boring?" He repeated sounding skeptical. Ino avoided his gaze. "Come on, Ino, I know you and 'boring.' Your 'boring' is never boring."

Ino cracked; it was better to spill the less pressing matters, and never reveal the darker ones to Shiro, than to keep quiet until he worked _all of it _out of her resistant mouth… what would he do when—_if_ (she reminded herself stubbornly…"if" was better than "when")—he found out? "Apparently I did something to make someone at school angry—and don't ask me what I did because I have no freakin' clue—but they've decided to retaliate by harassing me."

He was silent for a moment… his expression unreadable, and Ino began to wonder why almost all of his expressions were so damn incomprehensible… It must be the glasses, being unable to see his eyes. Yup, that was definitely it. The next chance she got she'd whip the ungrateful things off of his face.

"Was it the same girl who got you sent to detention?" Once again, his input startled her.

"What—? No… maybe… I don't know. Look, it's nothing okay; it's not important." Ino's hand curled around the chain holding up her swing gently her eyes downcast.

Shiro hesitated. "If it's something that's upsetting you, then it _is_ important."

The blonde couldn't help the smile forming at her lips. "To be perfectly honest, I'm not so upset anymore… Serious!" She added when she caught his look of blunt disbelief (at least she could decipher that expressioin). "Just being here with you helps; believe me."

And then he was on his feet, gently persuading her to rise to hers, which she did shortly but not without sending him a look of confusion. They stood like that for a moment, before Shiro leaned down to capture her lips.

What was with him and shocking her today? Ino's eyes widened, understandably, before sliding shut in bliss. Her lips moved sensually against his, her hands traveling up into his hair and whipping the damned hat off in the process. Her mind faintly registered that he was mumbling incoherently, not that the incoherence sounded unpleased—quite the opposite in fact. His hands had snaked around her waist and were holding her to him tenderly. It seemed that Ino's world would simply just melt away, and she wanted it to. Just stay here forever, content in his arms and free from her troubles—

"You fucking _bitch_!"

The scream tore them apart, Ino jumping away from her partner and spinning around wildly.

A seething dirty blonde, was running towards Ino, eyes lethal, and fist raised. What was going on? "Temari? What are—" And then she dodged to the left, but not entirely missing the fist aimed for her right cheek. "Ow." Ino flinched, holding the side of her face still extremely bewildered. She glared up at Temari, who was struggling to break her wrist free from Shikamaru's grasp. He was looking down at her pissed. "Just what the _fuck_ is your problem with me! ?" Ino's voice had risen just as fast her anger had.

Temari ripped her gaze from Shikamaru in favor of shooting furious looks at Ino. "Oh, like you really don't know, you _whore_!"

Ino shrieked, outraged, and lunged for the other girl, her fists curling in the other blonde's hair, and tugging roughly. Temari screeched and pulled herself free backhanding the other girl with her ridiculously sharp nails, splitting Ino's lip. Fire and then a flury of scratching, hitting, pulling, kicking—needless to say, it got violent pretty quickly.

"Ino! Ino, stop it, please. You're hurt… Stop! You're bleeding…" Shikamaru pried the platinum blonde off the other blonde and wrapped his arms tightly around her middle.

"Let me go! Damn it …let me go! …Please!" She was kicking out trying to break free from his grip… but she began losing energy quite quickly. Apparently, however, she still had enough left to start crying. The tears blurred her vision as Ino still struggled against him. "Let me go… Let me go… Let me go! Damn it! Let go!" She lurched forward again, in vain attempt to attack Temari, who was still lying on the ground clutching her stomach—Ino had kneed her in the gut and it left the girl rather winded. Shikamaru's grip tightened.

"Shh… Ino, calm down. Calm down…" Ino's breathing was coming in easier… but she was still struggling against him, albeit with much less vigor than before. "Are you hurt? You're okay, right? Please tell me your fine."

And Temari had obviously had enough, and was finally on her feet, angrier than before—if that was even possible. "You bitch!" Shikamaru flinched at the words and spun Ino around, her face now buried in his chest, to keep her from lashing out at Temari, or getting hit by her. "Stop protecting her!" Temari's voice had reached an unnaturally high octave before fury flashed in her eyes.

"Temari, get out of here, _now._"

Ino froze. Silence settled over the group, the sudden change in atmosphere causing Shikamaru to freeze as well and Temari to temporarily lose her rage. A couple of long seconds passed before the silence was broken by Ino's whispered: "You know her?"

"Ino, no I—"

Her hands clenched in his shirt. She was still tensed and she spoke again a little louder. "Don't lie to me, Shiro… do you _know_ her?"

"Of course he fucking knows me! I'm his—" Temari paused, realization dawning as she glanced quickly from Shikamaru, to Ino, and then finally back to Shikamaru. "Oh. My. God. She doesn't know? You mean, didn't tell her who you were? My god, Shikamaru, this is too good." The blonde rolled her eyes a smile playing at her lips. And then she started laughing.

"Temari! _Get out of here_!"

"No!" It was Ino who had yelled; she pushed away from Shikamaru, and he didn't try to stop her this time. _"Shikamaru?" _She repeated the name looking between Temari and Shikamaru. Who the fuck was—"Shikamaru." Her eyes widened. Oh good heavens. Shit. It all made sense now! The bathroom, the voice, the clouds, the… Temari was his… Oh no. No. No. No. No. "You lied to me."

"Ino... no wait I—let me explain—"

"No. You _lied _to me!" She couldn't stop the hand that lashed out across his cheek. His head whipped sideways, glasses landing somewhere in the sand, but he didn't stop her (even though Ino was pretty damn sure he'd be able to if he wanted), or flip out, or do _anything_… he just stood there, the red mark from the slap slowly taking form on his face. "You…" He turned to look at her eyes searching. Ino's lower lip trembled, and she bit the damn thing before it gave away how hurt she was by this whole thing. Not that stopping the trembling would help much, seeing as she was still crying. The tears running silently down her face. Stillness settled over them again. "You…" She swallowed and spoke slowly trying to understand it all. "So you were just… playing with me…?"

"No—! No. Ino… I swear, it's not like that—"

"How can you say that? You're dating her!"

"Ino—just let me explain!"

"You were playing with _both _of us? God, I _trusted_ you!"

"Ino—"

"No." She paused. "No… you're an asshole, Shikamaru." The words hung in the air heavily… and Ino turned away from it all. Grabbing her things and running. She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't really care. She just needed to get the hell out of there. She didn't know who to trust any more.

Temari had gone quite silent during the whole ordeal. She merely watched the events unfold before her, deriving some kind of sick pleasure from Ino's pain, and once the blonde had ran… she turned to Shikamaru, a look of false sweetness on her face. "It's okay. I forgive you. It was her fault. She's just a slut; it can all go back to the way it was before, you know?" Temari took a step towards him, her hands snaking their way around his waist.

"What the fuck, Temari?" He grabbed the blonde's forearms and pulled her off of him before her hands could clasp around his back.

"But, it could go back—the way it was before… I'd be happy—"

"No—Temari, _I_ can't. This—_us_… it's not gonna…"

They fell silent. The implied meaning of the words were obvious, and they didn't go unnoticed by Temari. "Are you… are you breaking-up with me…?"

"…Yes, Temari. I'm breaking up with you." He spoke condescendingly, and Temari let out an indignant huff, her eyes welling up even more so than Ino's had.

"You—" She took a breath trying to steady her rage of emotion. _"Fine!" _she said, still attempting to keep a firm hold on her pride. Her tears betrayed her, however, as they began to spill from her eyes. She swallowed thickly and turned on her heel leaving Shikamaru utterly alone in the wide, empty, park.

The silence again. That damn silence. He hated it. He hated _this! _Why. Fuck. This was not how it was supposed to turn out. Not like this. Shikamaru closed his eyes—feeling akin to a piece of shit—and he took a seat on the swing. It felt weird being at the park without Ino. But after what had gone down tonight… shit. She'd never look at him again would she? Damn it.

* * *

**A/N:**** So, the truth finally comes out…! And this is hopefully the last of "stupid cheater Shika" you'll ever see… but I can make no promises. Appologies for the late update (I've been busy with finals) but guess what? I'll just assume you guessed what so I can continue but **_**anywho**_**: it's that time of year! You know what that means? No school! Which, of course, equals quicker updates! Hopefully…? But YAY! :) Be happy!**

**((And I don't like FFnet's new layout D:))**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: ****This might come as quite a shock to you, but I'll say it anyways, so prepare yourself… I do not own Naruto -you may now enter your multiple stunned gasps here-. If you would like to yell or start ranting while shaking your fist at me for using these characters, please speak to my hamster. **

**Naruto © Kishimoto**

**P.S. I do not actually own a hamster.**

**Warning: As of recent I have not been particularly inspired to write this story. So I apologize in advance for the possible (probable) suckiness. And the shortness of this chapter. And I made you guys wait so long. I'm a terrible person, who does not deserve such wonderful readers.**

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CH 11

Ino awoke with puffy, bloodshot eyes, and it didn't take her usual trip to the mirror to know that she looked like hell. She went through her morning activities silently, only squeaking out a lifeless "good morning" to her mother, as she passed her on the way out the door. School was the last thing Ino needed at the moment. Being that they did, in fact, attend the same school, she was probably going to see him today (though to hell be damned if she didn't try—kicking and screaming—not to).

The blonde exited her house, shivering against the brisk wind, and hitched her book bag further up her shoulder. Stupid winter and its stupid frigidity.

Stupid Shikamaru and his… Ino swallowed dully, not liking the way her mind had chosen to occupy the current silence. Nope. Today she wasn't going to even let herself _think_ about Shikamaru. Shikamaru… or Shika… Shi-ka-ma-ru—damn! It wasn't fair. A part of her just wanted to forget—forget it all… and pretend it never happened. But another part of her (the annoying part) still wanted to hold onto the memories. To just curl up in a ball and say that last night didn't happen. To run back to Shikamaru and tell him to hold her until—stop. That wasn't true. No part of her, not even the smallest trace of her, wanted that. All of her hated his stupid lying being, even if he was the first guy to make her feel like she was more than a piece of meat… and no; that was not a compliment. She hated him. She had to hate him.

And that scared her. Mainly because she couldn't shake the memory of someone (she thought it was her mother) telling her what hate was: bruised love in disguise. Which was an assumption she refused to believe. The reason she was hurting so deeply was _not_ because she loved him. It couldn't be. She didn't love him; she merely used to _care_ for him. Not love. Never love. Care. Caring was less serious than love right? _Right._ She merely _cared_ for him. She cared for him his stupid way of spiking his stupid hair. Him and his stupid way of always having stupid, witty responses to her statements. Him and his stupid way of not answering her any of her stupid questions until what seemed like hours had passed. Him and his stupid way of drilling her with stupid questions of his own and growing irritated when she didn't answer quickly enough. Him and his stupid way of making her stomach knot itself. Him and his stupid way of making her feel like she was important. Him and his stupid way of occupying every _single_ _damn_ _second_ of her thoughts. Him and his stupid stupidness—what the hell! Did she honestly have nothing else to think abou—shit! Buzzing leg. Buzzing leg. Her leg was buzzing. Why was her leg buzzing—! ? Oh right. _Phones_. Cell phones did that. It was her phone. Just her phone. Holy holiness, she was losing it.

With a suppressed sigh of annoyance, Ino pulled the bit of metal out of her pocket and flipped it open, glancing at her new text—the culprit behind the sudden vibration.

_Ino, please just talk to me. I can't—_

And that was as far as she read before promptly deleting the message and turning her phone off. She had to block his number soon—or at least that was what she'd been telling herself for the past day or so. Not that she thought she ever would. She was too weak, still holding onto those lies and desperately wanting to believe them. The blonde whimpered pathetically, unable to shake the pain from her chest. _This royally sucks, _she concluded as she walked onto the campus of Shikamaru's stupid school.

A light layer of snow had fallen last night, successfully freezing the grassy courtyard so that when she walked towards her usual bench, the grass made an unpleasant crunching noise beneath her feet. That was odd. Hinata wasn't here yet? But Hinata was always early… That must mean that… she was _absent_? Now of all days to go missing? But Ino needed to unload, and she hadn't seen much of Hinata these past few days. Her presence was sorely missed… just like Shikamaru's was.

No. Haha—_no._

That was a lie. His presence was most certainly _not_ missed in the slightest. And even if it was missed (which it _wasn't_) there was no use in pining over something that was just _toying_ with her… even though that presence's kisses were the closest thing to heaven she'd ever—

And Ino was happy to bring that thought to a sudden halt. Why was she doing this to herself? These stupid thoughts had only suceeded in making her more miserable than complete misery. And that was possible. She would know, because that's where she was now.

The blonde frowned and shivered again. She was decidedly freezing without the usual comfort of her—_his_black jacket. She couldn't will herself to wear it, and to hell with here appendages if they decided they wanted to be treacherous and choose frostbite over attempting to scrounge up some warmth from her own thin, long-sleeved shirt. She sighed again, sat down on the frozen bench, and began to search through her bag. Book. Book. She had to occupy her mind. Slip away from it all… and definitely not look in the direction of the limo pulling up in front of the school.

The shiny black vehicle's side door swung open upon its halt. Kiba was the first to exit, locating his current girlfriend (of one week—yay!), and went to sling his arm around her waist. Shino and Naruto were next, talking in low tones seemingly oblivious to the rest of the world, then Sasuke got out, being greeted by his usual swarm of girls, and finally Shikamaru was the last to exit the limo… quite a deal later than Sasuke. Partially because he dreaded the aspect of school at the moment… and partially because he hadn't been exactly privy to the detail that they had, in fact, stopped (instead, he had been much too wrapped up in staring at his dead inbox and waiting—he hated waiting—for it to suddenly burst to life). Only after belatedly realizing their cease in movement, did he flip his phone shut, dejectedly, and finally get out of the limo.

This was so troublesome. She had yet to answer any of his calls or texts… not that he really blamed her, but, hell, her silence made things damn near impossible. How was he supposed to sort this mess out if she wouldn't talk to him? Oh, right… he _wasn't_ supposed to sort it out… because she didn't want to ever _see _him again. Shikamaru exhaled sharply, shoving his hands in the pockets of his green hoodie, and glancing around the courtyard for that familiar streak of platinum.

She had apparently been looking for—at—him as well, because when he spotted her their eyes locked immediately. Even from the distance he could read her. The look betrayal melted swiftly into that of defiance, as she stood, grabbed her bag, and made a show of ripping her gaze from his while she turned to stalk towards the English building.

Well, at least she'd looked at him… even if that look had made him feel like he'd just been punched in the gut multiple times and afterwards having sand kicked in his face. He stared at her receding figure desolately, his mind in a daze.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Snapped from his rather unpleasant train of thought, Shikamaru twisted to glare at his band mate, before turning back and watching that streak of platinum disappear through a heavily windowed door. Kiba chose to ignore the look and continued with a slightly worried expression on his face, "You know you look like you were just thrown up on by the embodiment of hell?"

"Dully noted, Kiba." He said with a sigh before turning from the structure and looking at his band mates… who were all watching him intently with a look of confusion, worry, or a mixture of both planted their faces. Except for Sasuke, who, instead, seemed to be staring in the direction that suspiciously looked like the one Shikamaru had been previously.

- : - : - : -

Ino walked the halls, her hands shoved in the pockets of her sweatpants and ignoring the incessant prattling of teenage girls. They'd caught wind of the latest, juiciest bit of gossip: the party tonight at Tenten's. She probably wasn't going to go. It was going to be a total in-crowd party. Which would suck. Not the party, per se… but the _chattering_. Seriously. It always boggled her mind that most high school girls could talk so much but say so little.

It must be a generally useless talent. And yes, the "generally" was necessary, seeing as a talent such as that would prove useful in situations where stalling was important. Like hostage negotiation or something. Ino frowned and walked to her French class before the bell rang. It wasn't she particularly like showing up early to class, it was that she had no other option. It wasn't like she was going to go back outside and read. That would be stupid. He'd see her and then know that the only reason she left in the first place was to not look at him (which was why she'd left in the first place and had made the fact quite well known to him). So, Ino opted for sitting at an unclaimed desk in an empty classroom, with her elderly Teacher scribbling something away in French on the board.

Ino gave her professor a dead smile before taking a seat at the back of the class. Her teacher glanced at her, smiled back and offered a cheery "Good morning." Which Ino did not feel the slightest bit of obligation to return, but she did so anyways.

The bell rang shortly after Ino had decided to open her book, and it's annoying presence only succeeded in forcing her to groan and shove—neatly—the thing back into her bag.

"Hey Ino." Good. Company. She needed a distraction at the moment. The blonde looked up at the cheerful brunette who had opted to take the seat opposite of her. And friendly company. More welcome.

"Hello, Tenten. How've you been?"

"Fine. And yourself?"

"I've been better."

Tenten sighed. "You look like hell. Like you need a break or something. And..." She trailed off hoping Ino would get the message. Which she did but chose not to respond to in hopes that Tenten would not try to force her into a party she did not want to go to. "So… I'm gonna assume you've heard about my party tonight?" Oh, wishful thinking was so nice. Ino nodded. "You should really come. Bring Choji or something. It'll be fun, and you really seem like you need to let loose for a while."

"I don't think that would be such a good idea, Tenten. I'm not—"

"Trust me, there'll be loads of people. Things to get whatever you're preoccupied with out of you head. Free alcohol… Can't be bad."

The "loads of people" thing was sort of why she didn't want to go. In-crowd party meant he'd be there. He was definitely in crowd. Then again he could bail to do something he deemed terribly important like making out with Temari while toying with her. "Big crowds? Free booze? You really know how to tickle my fancy." Ino deadpanned, but then immediately regretted it. She might be in a bad mood, but that didn't mean she had to take it out on those just trying to help. "I'm sorry. Really. Tenten, I didn't mean it, like that. Parties just really aren't my thing. You know?"

Tenten smiled wryly. "I figured as much."

- : - : - : -

Well this sucked. Really sucked. Sucked so badly that she had chosen to read a de-weeding manual over conversing with those of her same species. But she wasn't reading. Not really. True, her eyes were glancing over the words continuing from line to line, but her brain wasn't getting anything from it. And it couldn't, seeing as the stupid thing was too wrapped up with its own damned inadequacies to think about anything else. The topic currently on mind: exactly why the hell had she come to this destined-to-be-doomed party?

But that was a stupid question because she already knew the answer to it. She was here because Choji, whom Tenten had also cleverly invited in a ploy to get Ino to blow some steam off, had asked her to tag along with him. Of course the slightly-less-tolerable-than-before cheerleader knew she'd do anything for him, so naturally he'd be the perfect playing piece. When Ino asked why he wanted to come in the first place and make sure he didn't screw up when he tried to talk to a pretty girl she'd never met before (Choji called her Ayame?) but was apparently "the best ramen-making woman his culinary arts class had ever seen." Or, to state it more simply, Choji had been in need of her amazing morality boosting skills. Ino couldn't say no to that. She'd never seen him take a liking to anyone other than herself of Hinata, and of course her "maternal" instincts, wanted to mother him and tell him he'd be okay and not screw things up with the pretty girl. So she went.

Damn.

The pair hit it off instantly and were soon launched into a deep conversation on the production of noodles; they were also, quite obviously (though perhaps not intentionally), completely ignoring the fact that Ino existed. Being ignored had left her feeling quite pissed off and bored. She had nothing to do but wait for Choji to finish talking to Ayame (which she had assumed would only last ten or so minutes) until she could speak with her friend. But boredom did not sit well with Ino, so she scoured a bookshelf in the living room for a novel that might spark her interest.

That was forty-five minutes ago. Truly the better question than "why had she come" would be what the hell was she _still doing here? _She had her car, she could go home. There was nothing keeping her here, anymore. Ino frowned, glaring down at the borrowed book, before beginning to not read some more of it. She was annoyed.

She should probably leave.

But she wouldn't. She knew she wouldn't because Shikamaru was here… and part of her wanted to talk to him to straighten last night out… but the larger less-logical part of her just wanted to sulk in a corner. So she was doing just that. And to further her sulking indulgence, her mind had once again circled back to one question: how had she not noticed Shiro was Shikamaru? Hell, she'd spent enough time with Shiro, to be able to recognize him anywhere… even without those stupid glasses and hat and—Gah! She was so stupid, they were both so similar. Same voice, same height, sarcastic comments, same crazy infatuation with the sky…but she had noticed it before. She'd just chosen to ignore it. Shit. She'd gotten herself into this mess, not Shiro, or Shikamaru, or whatever the hell his name was—is…

A shadow loomed over her page. "Do you glare at all books that way?"

Her eyes widened, and her head snapped up. She braced herself for the sight of a surly lyricist—"Didn't you get the hint when I didn't return any of your stupid texts—" she began for realizing she was obviously very wrong. "U-Uchiha-san?" What was he doing here? "I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." Good lord. _What was he doing here?_

The singer cleared his throat and gestured towards the empty spot on the bleacher beside her. "May I?"

Ino looked him up and down curiously. "Um… sure?" He sat down but didn't speak. The two sat in awkward silence for a while before Ino furrowed her brows and spoke. "What do you—why are you here?" She asked. He was part of a rock band for crying out loud, why was he talking to her? Ah crap. That band also happened to—"Did Shi—Nara-san ask you to come talk to me?" And apparently, she had hid the bitterness in her words well, because when Sasuke spoke it was with hesitance seasoned with a healthy dose of confusion.

"No. Why, you know him?"

She nodded, slowly.

"How?"

Ino raised a confused eyebrow glancing at Sasuke. What did he want? Well it was obvious he wanted to know how she knew Shikamaru but… _why_. Why? Indulging in small talk, with a "freak" no less, did not seem like a hobby of his. Don't get her wrong, the guy was a Greek _god_, but he'd _never_ spoken to or even acknowledged—

…No. Wait. That wasn't true. He had made eye contact with her a couple of times—okay whenever she had looked over at him he was usually looking in her general direction—but those instances had just been flukes. Right? Yes. Merely flukes. He _had_ to have ulterior motives behind his absurdly alluring non-smile. Ino sighed and closed the book she wasn't reading and turned to stare at him with a hint of suspicion.

It wasn't exactly what Sasuke had been looking for, per se, but she was indulging him… and that was a start. He spoke again when she didn't respond, "You _dating_ him?"

"What—_no" _Err… well that was a little forceful. Too forceful. She amended, "_…_No. No, I'm not."

There was the smallest trace of a smile in his voice, "Good."

Good? What did he mean by "good"? Of all things to say—oh shitake mushrooms—what was he…? Good Lord! He was _kissing_ her. And not a small insignificant peck either but a deep thorough kiss that made her head spin.

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**A/N:**** -Insert demonic Bowser laugh here-**

**Oh goodness, I do feel for Shikamaru right now (I need to stop torturing him), but anyways, I told you there was going to be a SasuInoShika triangle coming up ^-^. To which I should add a: sorry if it feels like I kinda sprung it on you guys, even if that was not the case. It was, actually, meticulously planned out. To me, Sasuke seems more like the kind of guy who just acts on feelings rather than settling for the whole "I like you and I've liked you for a while (yes a while, the first mentions of it were in like the second or third chapter and then dispersed subtly throughout the rest of the chapters)" sort of thing. **

**And another note! I was reading a fanfiction earlier today, and the author of which stated, quite bluntly, that she would be responded to reviews. I thought it was a nice gesture, so I have decided to begin replying to your reviews. I absolutely **_**love **_**hearing your input, and I'm happy to respond to any questions or comments (feel free to vent if you're mad at me I don't mind and it might just help me improve… I welcome venting as long as it isn't downright insulting)—that is of course if you want a response from me. Not to sure how I should determine that so I don't pollute people's inboxes with responses they would rather not have… dunno but anywho I'm way off track now. Of course I won't be responding to anonymous reviewers or people who have deactivated the use of the PMs because I can't. And now I'm pretty sure you're very bored of me talking—typing—I can take a hint, so I'll just be shutting up now. Or maybe—nope. Now. Now's a good time. And stopping. End.**

**P.s. I'm aware of the Kankuro thing. Have patience… it will all be explained ^-^ Blerg. I feel like I just vomited text. XP**


	12. Chapter 12

**I am a horrible person. That unannounced hiatus was brutal. I am truly very very very very very very so so very sorry to have not updated in no less than nine and a half months. I grant you all permission to reprimand me in any way you deem necessary. Seriously folks, I am a horrible person and I feel like crap. To those who have stuck with me for this long… -gir voice- I love you! And I know you don't want to hear excuses or pretty much anything from me at the moment besides actual story content so here's my disclaimer:**

**Naruto © Kishimoto**

**Mr. Brightside © The Killers**

**And another apology. It might not flow very well, as it's been a while since I wrote this, and I am struggling to get back into the mindset of the characters-also meaning that this chapter is kinda short T-T. I hope you all enjoy anyways^-^**

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CH 12

What the flying cows of insane holiness? ! Ino was flailing rather uncoordinatedly towards the arm of the couch, her de-weeding book falling good-naturedly from her lap and landing with a loud slap against the wooden floor. Wh-wh-what the— why were they kissing? She make a weak protesting sound, which her partner either did not hear, or ignored. He was drunk—she could taste the alcohol on the tongue he forced into her mouth—and the realisation gave her some comfort; at least he usually didn't force pretty women into breathtaking kissing sprees. Ino pressed further away from him and Sasuke, naturally, had taken her withdrawal as some sort of a challenge and pressed closer.

It was like a weird sort of see-saw game; one which Ino was unfortunately losing. She needed to breathe. Her lungs were screaming in pain, and her body was happy to accommodate by giving the singer a forceful shove, which caused her to careen over the edge of the stupid couch and land sprawled on the stupid floor of the stupid room that housed the stupid party that she didn't even want to go to in the first place.

She was breathing hard—staring up at Sasuke, who was now peered over the edge of the couch with a slight smirk on his face, with a look of naught but shock. But what was more shocking was the fact that less than a second after she saw Sasuke's face it was yanked away to some unknown location to her right. The vanishing of said Uchiha, was then followed by a resounding 'thwack' of skin on skin filling the now silent room.

- : - : - : -

Down another beer—this had to be his fifth or sixth… just keep them coming. If he was going to be stuck at a shitty party with shitty people on a shitty night he might as well get shit-faced drunk. And as a shit-faced drunk, Shikamaru certainly felt like a stalker. And a crummy shit of a person to boot. Seriously. He was just staring at that insufferable blonde, who had so easily enslaved every fiber of his being without so much as a flick of her wrist, like some weird-ass jerk that didn't deserve to—

Wait. What the fuck was Sasuke doing?

The singer was currently walking over to the source of his infatuation… took a seat… what was—Shit! Shitty fuck fucker! Get your damn hands off of her waist and—

And before he knew what was happening, Shikamaru was on the fucking bastard in less than two seconds flat. He yanked the offending bastard away from the couch—and Ino first and foremost—before introducing the damned asshole to just what his fist thought of his fucking lips.

"—stop—"

It was so bittersweet. He may have landed the first punch but not the second. It connected squarely with his inebriated jaw and split his bottom lip. A familiar taste of copper filled his senses. Such a weird invention, blood. Whoever thought to make such a vile concoction, anyways? Disgusting. The culprit behind this travesty should definitely be sued for all that they were worth as the nastiness had now invaded his mouth without first seeking permission. How rude.

But naturally, that thought only occupied a second of Shikamaru's mind. The more pressing matter, as far as he was concerned, was ripping Sasuke's head cleanly from his body (with little or no struggle preferably).

"Shikamaru! Stop it!" His fist halted inches from his target's face, but, unfortunately, Sasuke's clenched grasp did not choose to listen to the stunning blonde's sexy voice, as it punched him—yet again—in the gut. The bassist released Sasuke's shirt from his death-grip and grunted in pain.

Damn it. He glared at Sasuke for one last minute before spitting blood onto the floor and storming—the best one could when shit-faced—out of the living room and towards the veranda.

Temari watched him leave, a mixture of satisfaction and pain welling in her chest. Screw him. He deserved to get beaten to a pulp… but for what? That blonde anorexic twig? _Why._ She didn't understand the pain that she was feeling, but she did understand the blind, white hate. Five minutes. That was all she wanted—needed. Five minutes alone with that little bitch and all her problems would be solved.

Temari fumed quietly in the corner while whispers began erupting around the no longer silent room. Not that she really had any mind to listen to them. Instead, she watched the platinum blonde leave in the direction Shikamaru had.

It wasn't much later that she was sitting tersely on the couch Ino had been on earlier, waiting for this damned night to pass with no more incident. Which, of course, meant that the cards were not going to play in her favor. Honestly, it was only around another five minutes later when someone popped up asking about the cause of all of her problems.

"Tem. What's up? Whoa, you pissed?" She glared at her brother balling her hands in fists to keep from lashing out at him. "Take that as a yes then?" He smirked sitting beside her. "Look, I'm sure whatever has got you wound up so damned tight is going to blow over, and everything will be fine. Seriously, I haven't seen anything you can't handle." He smiled softly… but was obviously preoccupied by something else. "Now as much as I'd love to stay here and comfort you, I'm really sort of pressed on time, and here about business. Speaking of which, have you seen Yamanaka-san?"

And that nearly pushed her over the edge. Oh that was just peachy. Her brother was out looking for some sucky blonde ass too. Thankfully, Temari was not one to act on merely raw emotion (most of the time) so she took great pleasure in the fact that she hadn't snapped and tried to strangle her sibling. All was fine if she really thought it through. If she told him where the blonde ass was, he would very likely let his unquenchable libido run wild, and rip the blonde bitch away from her Shikamaru, and then she'd be back together with him, and everything would be how it once was.

"I saw her heading that way," she pointed in the general direction the two had fled. "Towards the veranda I think."

"Thanks." He kissed her warmly on the forehead and set off in the direction indicated.

- : - : - : -

"Whoa. What the hell was that fight for?"

"Fuck, I told you Ino was a slut."

"What a bitch; who cheats on someone like that?"

"Would it be wrong if I said that it was pretty damn sexy?"

The whispers followed Ino all the way outside, but she ignored them, instead focusing on her task of locating Shikamaru. He would undoubtedly be outside. Him and his sky affliction. It was sad how well she was getting to know him—especially under the given circumstances… She sighed and promptly pushed the thought from her mind.

She approached the sliding glass doors, which led to the side of the house, and peered through the material. Her suspicions were confirmed. Shikamaru was leaning against the cheap white railing a cigarette dangling from his lips. She frowned and opened the door stepping out into the cool night air.

"Smoking is bad for you, you know."

Shikamaru made an offhanded noise that seemed something like a cross between a sneer and a scoff. It was most unusual. Especially for Shikamaru. He was usually so composed… emotions only factoring into dire situations at the very last moment (if at all).

"Are you even going to look at me?" He remained motionless. "After what you just _did_? Come on, Shikamaru! What the hell was _that_?"

Shikamaru didn't so much as glance in her direction. His gaze was fixed on the cloudless sky… merely staring at the stars that were now dotted overhead. For a brief moment, Ino thought that the bassist wasn't going to acknowledge her presence, but he—once again—defied her expectations and replied with, "Nothing."

Granted it wasn't the most engaged answer, but at least it was something. Better than a scoff-sneer by a mile. "Nothing." She repeated skeptically. "That wasn't nothing… you're bleeding." She ran a thumb over his split lip and he pulled away with a hiss. Okay fine. If he was going to be difficult all the more power to him. But if she was going to sit out here and straighten out this mess like the rational part of her wanted, she wasn't going to do it swimming in cigarette smoke.

Which meant she had to snatch the cigarette from him and quickly stomp it out. And she did so with little trouble. Afterwards, Shikamaru merely offered her a half-hearted glare; Ino held up her hands in mock defeat. His dark eyes raked her features once more before turning back to the sky. Dreaded silence filled the air again.

"I am sorry you know." He said after a moment. "I should have told you—I was just too… too—" he was struggling to think of a word… an unnatural occurrence for the lyricist. "Too something… and I couldn't think straight. I should have told you."

"Yeah, you should have."

"I know."

Silence. Ino leaned against the railing next to him. She glanced at Shikamaru from the corner of her eye and began to read him. He looked worse for wear. Seriously torn up… deep purple circles under his puffy eyes… skin paler than she'd last seen it up close (and that was really saying something). He definitely hadn't been getting much sleep. Well good. This whole mess was screwing him up too. He deserved it.

"Seriously Ino, I'm sorry." His words startled her out of her examination of the man's complexion. "I'm sorry. I know I can't make it up to you… but fuck. I just started coming out of this fucking cage—then I meet you and I start doin' jus' fine, but then…" he lowered his voice. "I _kissed _you." He whispered the words like they were some sort of secret. "I kissed you and then fuck. All this fucking shit happened and how the fuck did it end up like this? It was only a kiss. It was only a kiss."

Ino stared at him blankly. His profanity was disconcerting, and his words were beginning to slur the faster he spoke, and he _never_ spoke this much. Was he—?

"An' then I see you with _Sasuke" _He spat the name. "and you're all over 'im and you're touching his chest and I can see him talking off your—and fuck! I know it's all in my head but jus' watchin' you—with him... and you don't even know what you're doing to _me_. Let me go dammit. I just… I couldn't take it, it was fucking_ killin_' me. You have no idea what I wanted to do to that fuckin' bastard!"

He was. How much had he had to drink?

"Jealously. Damn. Now that's a fucked up feeling, yeah? I feel it taking control: jealousy. It turns saints into the sea where the swim through sick lullabies and choke on all the alibis they make." He paused. "But you know what? Jealously may be a damn bitch but it's the price I have to pay because destiny is calling me to open up my eager eyes…"

…Good Lord, the man was on a roll. He was so smashed.

"And sooner or later, it'll all work out. So… so I'll just sit here" He swallowed. "Right here in this very spot staring at the world with eager eyes and let you know that _I… _am Mr. Brightside."

He seemed rather satisfied with his monologue he had decided to deliver to the sky.

…

"…You are so drunk."

"Pfft…" And then Shikamaru started cracking up. "Mm… alcohol's a nifty invention isn't it?"

"No." That seemed to make him laugh harder. Ino smiled in spite of herself. "You don't even know what you're saying. The chances of you even remembering this in the morning are slim at best. You are going to be so hung over it's really nothing to laugh about." But she was admitting quietly to herself that it was much easier to deal with a drunk sluggish Shikamaru, than a sober alert one.

"_I… _have an amasome memry." It seemed like he couldn't decided between the word awesome or amazing, so he settled on smushing the two together and attempting to create magic rainbows. It failed, but prompted a short laugh from Ino.

He turned to her and caught her eyes, boring seriousness into their depths. "I'm sorry. I'll get you to stop avoiding me, ya know. It's only a matter of time."

She froze. Good heavens, how was he doing this to her? She was still supposed to be angry with him. So angry that she wasn't supposed to even want to see his stupid face for what he did to her… but right now. He was just so defenseless. It was tempting (too tempting) to try to mold things back into what they had before… even if it was only for a night. He wouldn't remember this in the morning anyways.

She broke the seriousness of his last statement with a light smile. "You have an 'amasome' memory huh?" She chided with a sly grin. "I'll tell you what, if you can re-say what you just told me… in your long rambling monologue… when you're _sober_, I'll stop avoiding you."

"And…?" He drew the word out with a raised eyebrow.

"And admit that you have an 'amasome' memory. But no cheating." She amended quickly. "No reminders of what you just said, huh?"

Shikamaru offered her a short suspicious glare, and then gave her a puppy dog smile that did not suit his face in the slightest. It somehow made her melt all the same.

"Pinky promise?" He accused jutting his little finger in her face.

"Alright." She linked her pinky around his.

Shikamaru was a lot like a little kid when he was drunk. It was cute. And being like this… so calm and serene… with him, was so much more than she could have ever thought possible when she accompanied Chouji here tonight. Her gaze softened. He wouldn't remember this in the morning right? He leaned in closer…

…

"Found you." The words made Ino jump out of her skin and whirl around.

Her eyes sought the intruder and her heart rate began to steady. At least she recognized him. True, he wasn't exactly the person she'd been dying to see but… "What are you doing here, Sabaku-san?" She said flatly.

"Still with the formalities, come on Ino, what do you think I'm doing here?" She glared at him, and he released a fake sigh. "I'm looking for you."

Shikamaru was glancing from Ino to Kankuro curiously before dawning registered on his face. He stepped in front of Ino flipped Kankuro the bird. "I remember you, ya fuckin' bastard."

* * *

**No, there will not be this much cursing in the future! Trust me. It's just the drunkenness of the party and tensions are high, and no cursing from here on out will _not_ be this profuse.**

**So anywho... yes, when Shikamaru is drunk he rambles and curses… a lot. And he also says some pretty damn good things that could be turned into a song. His ramble towards the end was one of the songs: Mr. Brightside per request of a friend. Next chapter you will understand the Kankuro deal—which is, when it boils down to it—pretty darn cheesy but hey, I outlined this a long while ago, and I sort of have to stick with my original plan, or it wouldn't turn out how I intended it in any way shape or form.**

**Again I apologize immensely T-T So so sorry, Hopefully I'll have more time to write, like this summer. My goal is to finish this monster by the time summer is over. D: **


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